Russia is Open for Cooperation with All the States in Order to Stop the War in Iraq - 3 April, 2003

Russia is open for cooperation with all the counties, including the United States and Great Britain, in order to find a possibility to stop the war in Iraq and to return the situation into the channel of political settlement, stated Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov in Brussels on Thursday.

According to him, it is from these positions that he regards the coming meetings in Brussels with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Jack Straw.

The Russian foreign minister underscored that he had arrived in Brussels at the instructions of the president of Russia.

Moscow continues to believe that the war in Iraq "could have been avoided and it was necessary to do it, the more so if we take into consideration all the tragic consequences which are already being experienced by the Iraqi population," said Igor Ivanov.

According to him, today the main task for the entire world community is "to jointly look for a way out of the crisis." As the minister said, he intends to discuss with his colleagues not only the Iraqi theme but the whole complex of Russian-American and Russian-British relations. The Russian Foreign Minister pointed out that the development of these relations is of independent importance and meets the long-term interests of the three countries.