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Russia Meets With French, German Leaders About Iraq War

9-April-2003

Moscow: The leaders of France, Russia and Germany -- chief European opponents of the U.S.-led war in Iraq -- will be in St. Petersburg this weekend for meetings on Iraq's reconstruction.

French President Jacques Chirac will be in St. Petersburg on Friday and Saturday, the Kremlin said. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was already slated to meet with President Vladimir Putin in the former imperial capital on those days. The schedule of meetings, or whether all three leaders would meet at once, wasn't clear.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also was planning to visit at Putin's invitation, but he canceled those plans Tuesday.

Instead, he accepted an invitation to next week's European Union summit in Athens, Greece. A U.N. announcement said the change means Annan can meet with EU leadership as well as representatives of EU member nations.

Chirac said Putin had invited him and Schroeder "to discuss all aspects of the situation" in Iraq. The visit will also be "an occasion to discuss postwar Iraq," he said.

There *better* be repurcussions for the French on this one. If we let them by with a pass on this, I am going to be very...very...displeased.

GWB: "Chiraq. No pie for you."
GWB: "Schroeder. No pie for you."
GWB: "Putin. No pie for you."
GWB: "Annon and the UN. No pie for you."