No anti-U.S. bias in Moscow's position on Iraq

On Tuesday, at a conference in Moscow marking the 70th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Russia and the U.S., Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov spoke about Iraq. The recent events in Iraq have validated Moscow's position on the settlement of the Iraq crisis, the minister said.

"The Iraq crisis became a serious test for Russian-US relations," said the Russian minister. Russia's attitude toward the Iraq conflict is known, he said. "We considered and still consider," ending the crisis through the use of force to be wrong, said Ivanov. "We shared our views about this matter with our U.S. colleagues on many occasions," he said.

"There is no underlying anti-U.S. sentiment whatsoever," said Ivanov. We discussed this issue with the U.S. because Russian-US relations are immensely important for international security, he said.

Ivanov said, "right after the military operation in Iraq, many states could settle their differences within the framework of the UN," through peaceful channels.

The September meeting of the Russian and U.S. presidents confirmed the two countries' desire to cooperate with each other, said the minister. The presidents also emphasized, "the two countries' respect and interest in each other," the minister said. The presidents set the real task of strengthening government relations.

Russian-U.S. relations have a buffer zone that protects them from negative factors.