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U.S.'s Iraq plan fails to woo Russia
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A U.S.-led bid aimed at winning Russian support for a tougher U.N. resolution against Iraq has ended with little apparent progress. U.S. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman was joined by British diplomat Peter Ricketts for a 90-minute meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on Saturday. The trio discussed the draft of a resolution, drawn up by the U.S. and UK, that would give Iraq a seven-day deadline to provide U.N. weapons inspectors unrestricted access to search for weapons of mass destruction. (Full story) It would also outline what Iraq must do to comply and the consequences if Iraq fails to abide by the resolution. But afterwards Grossman said the Russians "had some questions, we tried to give some answers ... it was not negotiations." Ivanov repeated his country's position that Iraq should abide by existing U.N. resolutions and allow the immediate return of the weapons inspectors, "who should give a clear answer to the question of whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction or not." Ivanov said he has seen no proof that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction and repeated his country's opposition to the use of military force against Iraq. Meanwhile, in Baghdad a top Iraqi official rejected any resolution that would give President Saddam Hussein seven days to agree to disarm and open his palaces to weapons inspectors. "Our position on the inspectors has been decided, and any additional procedure is meant to hurt Iraq and is unacceptable," said Vice President Taha Yassen Ramadan. Iraqi Prime Minister Tariq Aziz vowed that any military intervention would prove costly to the United States. He said: "An attack on Iraq will not be an American picnic. Instead, it will be a fierce fight where Americans will suffer losses that have not been seen for decades." A UK dossier published on Tuesday concluded that since then Iraq had stockpiled chemical and biological weapons and was working towards building a nuclear bomb. (Full story) All five U.N. security Council members -- Russia, the U.S., UK, France and China -- have the power of veto over the resolution and with it the chance to scupper the draft put together in Washington and London. Russia, France and China are all known to have reservations about threatening or using military force against Iraq if it does not re-admit inspectors to search out and destroy any weapons of mass destruction accumulated since 1998 inspectors were last in the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the decision to resume inspections in Iraq opens "real possibilities" for solving the issue. The remarks were in line with previous Russian statements supporting the return of inspectors to Iraq, but not supporting the need for a new U.N. resolution, as the U.S. and Britain want. Grossman was in France on Friday selling the draft resolution, which is described as a work in progress, to Paris officials while President George W. Bush contacted President Jacques Chirac by phone. (Full story) Chirac spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said the French leader told Bush he still preferred a two-step strategy: a first resolution on the return of arms inspectors, to be followed by a second resolution detailing consequences only if Baghdad blocks inspections.
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