February 28, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 26, 1423

MOSCOW, Feb 27: US President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to find a mutually acceptable solution on Iraq through the UN Security Council, the Kremlin said in a statement.

“While discussing Iraq, both sides expressed a desire to speed up work in the UN Security Council for finding a mechanism for action that would guarantee the interests of the entire international community,” the statement said.

The agreement came one day after Mr Putin, following talks with visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, announced that he found it “unacceptable” to adopt a United Nations resolution that would automatically call for an invasion of Iraq.

However, Putin also said he welcomed US pressure on Iraq because it was forcing Baghdad to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors, adding that Washington’s tough stance was proper, as long as it did not result in a war.

“We must resolve this situation through peaceful means and make sure that Iraq complies with the UN resolutions,” Putin said on Wednesday.

The Kremlin statement said the two leaders also discussed the North Korean nuclear crisis, which they agreed must be resolved through diplomatic means.

“The presidents of Russia and the United States spoke out in favour of working out political-diplomatic measures in order to improve the situation,” said the statement.

Russia has urged the United States to open direct talks with North Korea.

Washington, however, favours a multilateral approach, arguing that Pyongyang’s nuclear ambition threatens the international community as a whole.—AFP