Russia says Anglo-American resolutions 'out of touch'

A top Russian diplomat today reportedly said the UN resolution on Iraq proposed by Britain and the United States is “out of touch” and that there is no justification to bring it to a vote.

The comments by Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov came as Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov held telephone discussions with Joschka Fischer and Dominique de Villepin, the foreign ministers of France and Germany.

The three ministers “confirmed their unchanged adherence to the diplomatic-political method of resolving the crisis,” a statement by Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said.

All three countries have opposed military action against Iraq, saying weapons inspections should be intensified instead.

The US and Britain are pushing for a quick UN Security Council resolution that would pave the way for an attack on Iraq.

“As before, we are negatively inclined to the proposed resolution,” Fedotov was quoted as saying by the news agency Interfax.

The resolution “is completely unfounded and out of touch with the real circumstances and the progress in fulfilling the (existing) Security Council resolutions on Iraq.”

Russia has left open the possibility that it could use its council veto power against a resolution authorising war and Fedotov underlined the point again today.

“The veto power ... is to be used in the most extreme situations. We hope that such an occurrence will not arrive,” he was quoted as saying.

Ivanov is to fly to Paris for a meeting with de Villepin tomorrow, the ITAR-Tass news agency said.