Putin: The Only Right Solution is to Cease War in Iraq & Resume Political Settlement - 28 March, 2003

Russia still believes that the only right solution is to cease the war in Iraq immediately and resume political settlement within the UN Security Council framework, said Russian President Vladimir Putin while meeting the leaders of parliamentary factions and deputy groups in the Kremlin.

"Russia has never linked, directly or indirectly, its position on Iraq to economic factors or economic profit," said Putin.

According to him, the economic component is "part of our politics". "But if we commit grave mistakes in our assessment of the political situation, this will eventually result in economic losses," the Russian President stressed.

Putin recalled that Moscow "had its own economic interests in Iraq".

According to the president, Russia struggled for political solution of the problem until the last moment, contacting many countries' leadership virtually every day.

The crucial task of the world community now is "to avert the imminent humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq," the president believes. Putin recalled that Russia "had started preparations for aiding Iraqi refugees on the Iraq-Iran border."