Moscow: UN Security Council Should Give Political, Legal Assessment to War in Iraq

The UN Security Council should give a political and legal assessment to the military action of the USA and Great Britain in Iraq, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov.

"Even if this session of the Security Council does not adopt a resolution, the assessment will be voiced in the speeches," Fedotov emphasised in an interview with the Vremya Novostei newspaper.

When answering the question whether the action by Washington and London could be considered an aggression, the deputy minister pointed out that the definition of an aggression was contained in a UN resolution adopted in 1974. "Both it [the resolution at issue] and the UN Charter read that only the Security Council, not an individual state, can decide whether the action is an aggression or not. We comply with the legal norms," Fedotov emphasised.

When commenting on Russia's standpoint on the issue, he underlined once again that Moscow believed these actions "to be illegal, violating the international legislation and constituting a serious mistake".