The United States was insisting last night that time was running out for a diplomatic solution to the Iraq weapons impasse, despite a warning from President Yeltsin that American handling of the crisis could lead to world war.
But President Clinton moved quickly to dampen down Russian fears of US hasty military action against Iraq by insisting that a diplomatic solution was still possible. There was surprise at the White House at the concern expressed by President Yeltsin.
A sombre President Yeltsin said at a televised meeting in the Kremlin that it was necessary to warn President Clinton "that with his actions in Iraq, he can lead to a world war. . . He is acting too noisily there."
He continued: "One must be more careful in this world, saturated with all sorts of weapons which are sometimes in terrorists' hands. . . It's all very dangerous."
While his comments startled some observers, they were dismissed politely by a US official, who suggested the Russian leader's words may not have been translated correctly. Later, they were effectively disowned by the Russian ambassador to the UN, Mr Sergei Lavrov. He berated the media for an "unfortunate distortion" of the comments.
Earlier, the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, on her way back to the US after a tour of the Middle East said in Shannon that Arab states would acquiesce in the US's policy. "While [Arab leaders] do prefer diplomatic means, not one of them urged me to tell the President not to use force," she said.
An Iraqi offer that UN inspectors could visit eight of the 78 so called presidential sites the regime has said are off limits was rejected by both the US and the UN inspection team.
The White House is to be visited today by President Clinton's main ally against Iraq, the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair.