MOSCOW, Aug 25: Moscow accused Washington on Sunday of being double-faced about trade with Iraq, charging that US companies were also dealing with Baghdad for commercial gain, though both sides were adhering to international agreements.

In one of the strongest complaints yet filed by the Russian foreign ministry against US plans to unseat Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, the spokesman said Washington officials were being “forced” into making comments they did not mean.

“It seems that US military leaders are forced to resort to this kind of statements for lack of other serious arguments, so they can defend the use of force, which causes great concern to the world,” said foreign ministry spokesman Boris Malakhov.

The ministry’s statement further suggested that the Pentagon was moving forward without having been briefed by President George W. Bush.

“It is difficult for us to say whether the Pentagon had the authority to make these statements,” said the Russian spokesman.

Earlier this week, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cautioned Russia against dealing with countries which Washing-ton suspects of supporting terrorism, later suggesting that its trade deal with Iraq could hurt Moscow’s relations with the West.

“To the extent that the country is saying to the world that they want to be known as close personal friends of Saddam Hussein or (North Korea’s) Kim Jong-il or (Cuba’s) Fidel Castro it sends a signal that is harmful to them, it seems to me,” Rumsfeld said.

Now, Moscow appears to have issued a fierce response that clouds earlier statements — from both sides — that the United States and Russia were uniting their soldiers in a joint war against international “terrorism.”

“Turning international trade into a point of ideology is reminiscent of the Cold War, which thanks to Russian and US efforts is now past, even if some people do not like it,” the Russian foreign ministry said.

The comments, which President Vladimir Putin has not officially confirmed, came two days after Moscow signalled it would send a top delegation to Washington next month to argue against military strikes on Iraq.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said he and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov would visit Washington to focus on the threat during consultations with their US counterparts in the framework of a new council set up by the two sides during a presidential summit in May.

Russian officials have mentioned on several occasions that the “four-sided” council representing defence and foreign ministry heads from the two countries would be convened for the first time in Washington next month.

But US officials have said little on the subject and have so far failed to confirm the meeting. Ivanov did not say what date had been set for the talks.—AFP