Putin denounces Baghdad air strikes

The Rusian leader’s opinion has been made public by Alexei Gromov, President Putin’s press secretary. Asked of President Putin’s reaction to the US-British bombing raids of Baghdad, Mr. Gromov told RIA Novosti, speaking for Mr. Putin, that those “unprovoked acts in no way contribute to the settlement of the situation around Iraq.” President Putin believes, according Mr. Gromov, that “the settlement can and should only be a political one, based on a strict observation of the respective resolutions of the UN Security Council.”