MOSCOW, Oct 3: President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia was not satisfied with the latest US draft resolution on a UN role in Iraq, although it was prepared to help in seeking a compromise between Washington and its opponents on the Security Council.
“We are not satisfied with the draft by our American partners, though they are trying to find a compromise,” Mr Putin said in answer to a question by a Saudi investor at a gathering of the World Economic Forum in Moscow.
“I believe that if we are guided by these principles we can expect to find such a compromise,” he said.
The UN Security Council resolution “must give the international community greater possibility for taking part in the rebirth of Iraq”, he stressed.
“In this way I believe we can achieve serious progress in the reconstruction of the country,” he said.
On Thursday, a new draft resolution presented by US ambassador John Negroponte won a frosty reception in the UN Security Council, where it was seen as offering few of the sweeping changes called for after a version last month met strong resistance.
“The revised text does not address our wishes,” France’s UN ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said. “We didn’t find the proposals that we made, along with Germany, on the main points.”
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also rejected the US proposals regarding the future of the UN in Iraq. Washington, which is seeking military and financial help for its occupation of Iraq, has submitted a resolution to approve a multinational peacekeeping force and give the United Nations a formal role in rebuilding the country.
Mr Putin said the problem was that “the population of Iraq has greater trust in its traditional partners than in those who currently control the situation there”.
Referring to pre-occupation Russian economic ties with Saddam Hussein’s government, he said that “previously concluded contracts can and must be used to rebuild the country.
“These forces (US-led forces) are trying to improve the situation as quickly as possible. While we must not create a power vacuum, UN control must be increased.”
Mr Putin said it would be desirable to have a UN Security Council resolution on Iraq passed by Oct 24, when a donor conference is scheduled in Madrid.
“We have the time for this. Our specialists believe that all parties involved want a positive outcome,” he added.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, speaking on Swedish radio, said he believed the US draft required further “serious work” before it wins broad international support.
Aspects needing reconsideration “include the restoration of Iraq’s sovereignty, the UN’s leading role in the peace process, a mandate for international security forces and a transparent instrument of control Iraq’s economic revival”, Ivanov said, as quoted in a statement issued by the foreign ministry.
“All these issues must be clearly outlined in the draft resolution if we want to... win the trust of the Iraqi people and wide international support,” he said.
Russia has, like France and Germany, been pressing for a rapid transfer of power in Iraq from the United States to a properly elected authority.
But Moscow has shown more willingness to compromise than Paris or Berlin as it seeks to rebuild bridges with Washington. —AFP