Chirac, Putin Reaffirm Convergence of Position on Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 05, 2003

Chirac, Putin Reaffirm Convergence of Position on Iraq

French President Jacques Chirac and his Russian Counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday evening reiterated that Iraq must be disarmed peacefully.

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French President Jacques Chirac and his Russian Counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday evening reiterated that Iraq must be disarmed peacefully.

The reiteration was made by the two presidents during a telephone conversation ,a French presidential spokeswoman said.

"France and Russia maintain the same approach and conviction tothe disarmament of Iraq in peace," said the spokeswoman Catherine Colonna when briefing the conversation.

Chirac reaffirmed that France opposes to a new United Nations resolution that would authorize military intervention on Iraq, said Colonna.

Chirac was back in Paris on Tuesday following a three-day visitto Algeria, a first state visit by a French president to Algeria since the former French colony won independence in 1962.

In Algiers, he had reiterated France's opposition to a second UN resolution on Iraq.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who is now in London, will arrive here and be received by Chirac on Wednesday afternoon.

When meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Ivanov said Russia refused to rule out the use of Russia's veto in the UNSecurity Council to seek to prevent a war in Iraq.

"If necessary Russia can resort to using this right," he said in a question-and-answer exchange on BBC News Online, "Abstaining is not a position that Russia can take."

As two of five permanent members of the 15-nation UN Security Council, France and Russia are in a position to block a new UN resolution drafted by the United States that would green-light a US-led war on Iraq as early as mid-March.

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