Posted on 03/21/2003 3:57:51 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Russia's Putin warns of instability from Iraq war
MOSCOW, March 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the conflict in Iraq could spill over into other regions, including ex-Soviet states, and sow instability there.
"We think that the crisis has gone beyond the framework of a local conflict and is now a potential source of instability for other regions of the world, including the Commonwealth of Independent States," Putin said.
The Russian president, who said on Thursday that the military action against Iraq was unjustified and called for the quickest possible end to it, was addressing senior officials from member states of the CIS, the loose grouping of 12 former Soviet republics.
"The task of regional organisations...is to minimise possible negative consequences of the military action, preserve stability in the region and ensure the security of our people," Putin said.
In remarks to senior Russian political and security officials on Thursday, Putin challenged the U.S. assertion that Iraq posed a threat to international stability.
But his Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said that Russia and the United States remained partners and would preserve the new ties forged after the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities.
Russia, along with France and Germany, had stood for a political solution through the U.N. Security Council to the issue of disarming Iraq and had long opposed any resort to force against Baghdad.
A bear without claw
(Filed: 21/03/2003)How times change, and for the better. Yesterday morning, these words kept appearing at the bottom of the screen on Sky News: "Russia demands immediate end to hostilities". If such a story had broken 15 years ago, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the entire free world would have had just cause to be terrified out of its wits.
These days, thanks largely to an earlier partnership between an American president and a British prime minister, we can afford to dismiss Russia's posturing with a roll of the eyes and a weary sigh: "Oh, do shut up, Mr Putin."
I quite agree.
Regards, Ivan
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