Vladimir Putin and lebanese prime minister duscuss Iraq crisis

The Iraqi crisis was the key issue on the agenda of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

At the beginning of the meeting the Russian President pointed out that he believed an exchange of view-points on the situation in the Middle East, in Lebanon and on settlement of the Palestinian problem" was quite important.

He inquired about the Lebanese Prime Minister's viewpoint on the Iraqi crisis.

President Putin noted good businesslike contacts between him and the Lebanese Prime Minister.

Rafiq Hariri, on his part, said the region was living through hard times. "The Iraq war shows that some countries' interests clash while other countries are in agreement," he added.

"A rearrangement of the world is going on in a way we have not seen before." The Lebanese Prime Minister is concerned with the fact that the UN's authority is seeping away. The trend will affect interests of many countries including Lebanon and Russia.

The meeting of the Russian President and the Lebanese Prime Minister is taking place in the Kremlin, with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov attending.