Sanctions imposed on Baghdad in 1990 have proved ineffective

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov arrived in Baghdad on Monday on the first leg of a trip that will take him to Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Ivanov is the first Russian Foreign Minister to visit Iraq since 1994. Russia says sanctions imposed on Baghdad after it invaded neighbouring Kuwait in 1990 have proved ineffective and harm civilians. Earlier Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying he did not rule out that he might take a letter from President Vladimir Putin to Iraq's President Saddam Hussein. Ivanov said his most important task in Baghdad would be to "reactivate the peace process in Iraq, which today is virtually at a standstill". Putin said on Thursday an increasing number of U.N. members supported Russia's attempts to lift sanctions against Iraq, which humanitarian organisations say have only succeeded in harming ordinary citizens. Russia has in recent weeks sent humanitarian flights to Iraq. It insists it is not breaching the U.N. sanctions, saying a ban on non-commercial flights is not included in them, Reuters reports.