Russia Could Support Franco-German Plan on Disarming Iraq: Ivanov

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 10, 2003

Russia Could Support Franco-German Plan on Disarming Iraq: Ivanov

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Russia would back a plan proposed by France and Germany on disarming Iraq to prevent a war against it if the United Nations Security Council approves it, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Sunday.

"If the UN Security Council supports this idea, I have no doubt that Russia will adhere to it," Ivanov told a press conference at a security conference in the southern German city of Munich.

The defense minister said he had exchanged views on the Iraqi crisis with his French and German counterparts at the conference. He reiterated that Russia would make further decisions based on the next report on the progress of Iraq's disarmament, which the UN weapons inspectors were scheduled to deliver to the Security Council on Friday.

Ivanov also said Russia was ready to send its weapons experts to join the UN inspection on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

German Defense Minister Peter Struck confirmed on Sunday that France and Germany planed to submit a joint proposal on disarming Iraq to the Security Council on Friday.

"We hope this initiative will be favorably received by the UN Security Council on Feb. 14," Struck said when interviewed by Phoenix TV.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that France and Germany intended to launch the Franco-German plan as a draft resolution at the Security Council.

The magazine said under the joint plan, the UN arms inspectors would be tripled in number and the whole of Iraq would be turned into a no-fly zone.

A UN force with executive authority would be sent into Iraq to guarantee that it really destroys weapons of mass destruction. Germany would contribute troops to the force, which would stay fora period of years, said the report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arrived in Berlin on Sunday, will meet with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Sunday evening. He will then leave for Paris and hold talks with his French counterpart, Jacques Chirac.

Putin's four-day trip to Germany and France is regarded as crucial to the Security Council's decision on the Iraq issue.

Both Russia and France have veto power in the UN Security Council. Neither of them wants a new UN resolution authorizing use of force against Iraq, which the United States has been urging for.

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