MOSCOW, March 24: Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on Monday called for a session of the UN Security Council to discuss the US-led war in Iraq.

“The United Nations and the Security Council cannot, of course, remain without getting involved in what is happening in Iraq,” Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying.

“We hope this question will very soon become the subject of thorough and detailed discussion in the Security Council,” he told journalists after meeting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.

Russia, a permanent member of the Council with veto rights, sided with other UN heavyweights France and China in opposing US-led operations to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The three had argued for United Nations inspectors to be given more time to search for alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Ivanov expressed concern at mounting casualties in the conflict and warned that a humanitarian and ecological disaster could be imminent.—Reuters