Annan Holds Talks With Putin in MoscowU.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks Tuesday in the Kremlin, touching on conflicts in the Middle East and the Balkans and U.N. sanctions on Iraq."We agreed that in this interdependent world we need the United Nations more than ever," Annan told reporters after more than an hour of what he called "good and useful" talks with Putin, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. Before the meeting, Putin greeted Annan jovially and said, "It's Russia's position that the role of the United Nations should be enhanced." Putin has championed a greater U.N. role in some international conflicts, and the concept of a "multipolar world" to counterbalance U.S. global dominance. Annan said the leaders reviewed the conflicts in the Balkans and the Middle East and U.N. sanctions on Iraq, which Russia opposes. Annan told the ITAR-Tass news agency that he would also discuss nuclear nonproliferation with Russian officials. Moscow is one of the most determined opponents to the U.S. plan to abandon the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and construct a limited national missile defense. After the talks, he said the missile defense plans weren't discussed in detail, but added, "I've had the chance to state my position clearly, which is that we need to build on international treaties and disarmament treaties which exist." Annan was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Tuesday evening. According to ITAR-Tass, Moscow's ambassador to the United Nations, Sergei Lavrov, said Russian officials would raise issues of most concern to Russia and its neighbors to the south, in Central Asia and the Caucasus: organized crime and drug-trafficking. |
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