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Russia: U.N. decree will fail
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Moscow sees no possibility that the U.N. Security Council will approve a second resolution on Iraq that directly or indirectly sanctions the use of force, Russia's U.N. ambassador says. Meanwhile a spokesman for French President Jacques Chirac said another decree was "neither useful nor necessary" and its foreign minister said talk of Paris using its veto was "not an issue" as so many countries were opposed. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also said on Monday that both his country and France, which holds a veto on the U.N. Security Council, did not see any need at present for a new resolution. (Full story) The United States, Britain and Spain proposed a U.N. resolution Monday designed to clear the way for military action against Iraq on the grounds that it "has failed to take the final opportunity" to disarm. (Full story) Washington needs support from at least nine of the 15 council members to win approval for a resolution, providing France, Russia or China do not cast a veto. Britain and the United States also have veto power. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told Reuters there would be no vote on the resolution for about two weeks. (Full story) But Moscow's U.N. ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with Russian television, said there was no basis for a second resolution. He said the main task is "not to allow a war which we believe is unjustified." Lavrov said inspections were continuing and Iraq was increasing its cooperation with the inspectors. Russia's Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov visited Baghdad at the weekend at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a statement, the ministry said Primakov met Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Sunday. The purpose of the visit was to" clarify the position of the Russian leadership on the issue of Iraq and get Iraq's assertion that it will strictly comply with U.N. Resolution 1441 as well as fully and unconditionally cooperate with international inspectors," the Ministry said. The ministry said Saddam assured Primakov that there would be no impediments to the work of inspectors from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission or the International Atomic Energy Agency. Chief Chirac spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said the inspections should continue. "There is no reason today to interrupt the strategy of inspections to veer into another way of thinking that would lead to war," she said. "A new resolution is neither useful nor necessary," she said after Chirac met the Croatian president, Stipe Mesic. She said Chirac told Mesic that France wants to give inspections a chance to succeed. Earlier, France's foreign minister said Paris was opposed to a new resolution as long as weapons inspectors are making progress in Iraq. Dominique de Villepin said France will try to boost inspectors' effectiveness by proposing a schedule for Iraq to follow through with demands. It will submit the plan as a memorandum to the Security Council, he said. Inspectors say they are making progress, and "that's the reason why, in this context, we are opposed to a new resolution, as the president has said," de Villepin said in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper published Monday. Asked about the possibility France would veto a resolution, de Villepin said that was "not an issue," as so many countries were pushing for more inspections -- mentioning two other of the five nations with veto powers, Russia and China. Russia's Lavrov also questioned U.S. aims in Iraq. "Is it to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, as everyone wants," he asked? "Or is it to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein?" The United Nations has made no decision to remove Saddam Hussein, he said, and the majority are against it. -- CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty contributed to this report. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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