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1) Russia, China Offer To Send Military Monitors To Iraq To Prevent War 2) Russia Warns Against One State 'Dictating' To The World 3) Russia Warns Against Use Of Force Against Iraq 4) Russian, French And German Foreign Ministers Confirm Same Stance On Iraq; Russia Lobbies Other Security Council Members For Peaceful Resolution Of Crisis http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ch/Qiraq-un-russia.Rmk__DM3.html Russia offers to send military monitors to Iraq -The Russian announcement came after Chinese state media said on Monday that Beijing was willing to offer personnel and technical support to the UN inspectors searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. China and Russia, both permanent veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, are seeking to avert a looming US invasion of Iraq and extend the work of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq. MOSCOW, March 3 (AFP) - Russia announced on Monday that it was ready to send military personnel to Iraq to take part in UN weapons inspections in an apparent bid to stave off the threat of US-led military action against Baghdad. The deputy chief of the general staff, General Yury Baluyevsky, said Russian representatives had been dispatched to the United Nations Security Council in New York to discuss a role for the Russian military in the UN inspections. "A team of experts from the foreign and defence ministries flew to New York yesterday to hold consultations on the practical involvement of Russian military in international inspectors' continued monitoring in Iraq," the top Russian defence official told news agencies. The Russian announcement came after Chinese state media said on Monday that Beijing was willing to offer personnel and technical support to the UN inspectors searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. China and Russia, both permanent veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, are seeking to avert a looming US invasion of Iraq and extend the work of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq. Baluyevsky said Russian servicemen would not take part in any hostilities in Iraq. "If Russian armed forces have a role, it will be as monitors assisting the international inspectors who are working in Iraq," said Baluyevsky, without giving any further details. There are already Russian experts among the UN inspectors in Iraq but these are employed in a private capacity by the United Nations. Baluyevsky recalled that Russia had prepared an Antonov-30B spy plane "to carry out aerial reconnaissance in Iraq and to pass on information to international inspectors". Last month Moscow announced it had reached a preliminary agreement with the United Nations on the deployment of a Russian spy plane over Iraq but further talks were due to be held in New York on the issue. Russian defence ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Sedov told AFP the delegation's discussions would focus on the deployment of the Antonov-30B plane. If approved by the United Nations, this would require the presence in Iraq of technical support staff and a replacement crew, he said. Russia is one of several nations volunteering to offer its planes. Sedov added that Moscow had other suggestions for involving Russian military in the inspection process but these were at a preliminary stage. "In our consultations we may discuss some other possibilities (for Russian assistance in UN inspections) but this is the only concrete proposal so far," he said. The chief UN weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, are due to give their latest update to the Security Council on Friday. Washington and its allies have submitted a draft UN Security Council resolution which would, if passed, effectively pave the way for war on Iraq. They hope for a vote on the resolution in the first half of March. ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.online.bg/ASP/wwwbgweb2.asp?mode=article&artdate=2003/3/3&artno=34 Bulgaria Online March 3, 2003 Putin meets Bulgarian Speaker, warns against one state "dictating" to world [Announcer] The credit for developing the new relations between Bulgaria and Russia goes to President Georgi Purvanov. This is what Russian President Putin has told National Assembly Chairman Ognyan Gerdzhikov. After a period of standstill in the relations between the two countries, they have started coming closer, Putin also said. [Putin in Russian with superimposed translation in Bulgarian]. We strongly hope that our partners, including Bulgaria, will understand well the realities of the modern world and modern Russia. We strongly believe that all the members of the international community are aware of the possible negative effect of the resumption of this type of international relations, in which one state dictates its own perceptions of law and justice in the world. [Announcer] This is what Russian President Putin said at a meeting at the National Assembly, at which National Assembly Chairman Ognyan Gerdzhikov stressed the need for developing Bulgarian-Russian relations on the basis of mutual benefits. [Gerdzhikov] To be able to contribute to establishing global and regional security and to be able to counter world terrorism in an efficient manner, especially in view of the present tension over Iraq, we have to cooperate extremely closely. ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.online.bg/ASP/wwwbgweb2.asp?mode=article&artdate=2003/3/3&artno=49 Bulgaria Online March 3, 2003 Putin opposes use of force in Iraq Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday affirmed his opposition to the use of force in Iraq, saying that the Iraq crisis should be solved through peaceful means. "We in Russia are convinced that the Iraq crisis can and must be resolved through peaceful means," Putin said during a news conference. Putin said that "there can be only one criterion in respect to decisions (on Iraq) and that is that all decisions must be based on the principles and norms of international law." Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and as such has the power to veto any council resolution. Putin refused to comment the position of Bulgaria, which currently occupies a non-permanent Security Council seat and has so far staunchly supported the position of the United States, saying it would be impolite to do so. Bulgaria was once Moscow's closest ally in the communist bloc. However during the past decade relations between the two countries have soured as a result of Bulgaria's determination to join NATO and its markedly pro U.S. orientation. Putin's visit is the first to Bulgaria by a Russian head of state in 12 years and is in large measure due to the efforts of Bulgaria President Georgi Parvanov, formerly head of the ex-communist Bulgarian Socialist Party. Although Parvanov is the head of state he wields little real power, most of it being concentrated in the government of Prime Minister Simeon Saxcoburggotski, Bulgaria's child king, who emerged on the Bulgarian political scene in 2001 after 40 years of communist-imposed exile on Bulgaria's royal family. It is only natural for Simeon II, as he is known in Bulgaria, to be firmly pro-American and pro-Western and somewhat suspicious of improved relations between Bulgaria and Russia. Indeed in recent weeks there have been consistent reports in local media that Simeon and his Cabinet were doing everything possible to downplay the importance of Putin's visit to Bulgaria. Simeon is only meeting the Russian president for a brief working lunch and has busied himself with meetings with his second cousin, Prince Dimitri Romanoff, heir of Russia's last royal family, who arrived to Bulgaria at Simeon's personal invitation on the day that Putin was being greeted by Parvanov. ------------------------------------------------------ http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3072926&startrow=31&date=2003-03-03&do_alert=0 Russian Information Agency March 3, 2003 MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF RUSSIA, FRANCE AND GERMANY CONFIRM COMMUNITY OF THEIR POSITIONS ON IRAQ MOSCOW, March 3. /RIA Novosti corr./ - Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov yesterday conducted telephone conversations with his French and German counterparts - Dominique de Villepin and Joschka Fischer. As the information and press department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Monday, during these conversations the ministers have "again confirmed the community of the positions of Russia, France and Germany on the Iraqi problem," in particular, "concerning the necessity of the continuation of the activity of the international inspections mission in Iraq on the basis of the UN Security Council's Resolutions 1284 and 1441." On Saturday, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs discussed the situation surrounding Iraq in telephone conversations with his counterparts in the countries which are not permanent members of the UN Security Council - Angola, Guinea, Cameroon, Mexico, Pakistan, Syria and Chile. Igor Ivanov has confirmed the invariable position of Russia in favour of achieving an Iraqi settlement exclusively by peaceful political and diplomatic means. In this connection he drew the attention of his counterparts to the joint Russian-French-German memorandum of February 24. This document, according to Igor Ivanov, contains concrete proposals on further measures to be taken to ensure the fulfilment of the appropriate resolutions of the UN Security Council on the basis of the continuation and intensification of the inspection process and making it more comprehensive. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bdn7KI.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. 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