Federation Council to Issue Statement on Iraq

The Federation Council is to pass a statement on Iraq to define what Russia should do under the current circumstances to get prepared for a possible emergency situation and to minimise the risks, said Speaker Sergey Mironov at an international affairs committee session.

He reported that a draft statement on Iraq would be considered this Tuesday by the Council of the upper chamber so as to be discussed Wednesday by a Federation Council plenary session in the presence of Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

"The large scale of destabilisation may entail a new round of terrorist activity and spark off a new arms race, to say nothing of the negative consequences for the economy," said the speaker. Mironov does not rule out that Russia will be compelled to review its economic plans.

The speaker recalled that President Vladimir Putin had already given a clear-cut assessment of Washington's one-sided decision on Iraq as "a big political mistake".

In the opinion of Mironov, the war on Iraq had been conceived by the American leadership long before the work on endorsing UN resolution No.1441 began.

But notwithstanding the fact that the work of UN inspectors in Iraq yielded definite results and resolution 1441 enabled Iraq's true disarmament, the USA undertook an armed action against that country, said Mironov.

Russia has done a lot to contain partners in the anti-terrorist coalition from an Iraq war. "This was done because the war in that explosive region may cause serious consequences for the entire system of international security, including causing its collapse."