Russian diplomat about aims of adopting resolution on Iraq

Resolution 1409 on Iraq adopted by the UN Security Council also has a political aspect intended to prevent US possible military action against this country. "Resolution 1409 is one of the steps towards prevention of the US aggression against Iraq, said Yuri Fedotov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department of international organisations at a meeting on cooperation with Iraq, that gathered representatives from Russia's social, political and business circles. Resolution 1409 differs greatly from the draft resolution, proposed by the USA and blocked by Russia a year ago. That resolution first of all implied imposing so-called "smart sanctions" which would introduce "a sanitary cordon" on all the Iraqi borders, Fedotov says. Resolution 1409 preserved a list of goods, which will allow the UN to regulate the goods imported to Iraq. The resolution also contains the requirement that in six months an all-out report on new scheme functioning should be issued, stressed the representative for the Russian Foreign Ministry.