Officials
said Schroeder telephoned Putin to coordinate the two U.N. Security
Council members' positions before a key status report on inspections
in Iraq, to be submitted to the council Monday by chief inspectors
Hans Blix.
With
reported Chinese opposition to a war option, this would leave the
United States almost isolated, except for all-time ally Britain,
against three veto yielding countries.
"Both
sides underlined the similarity in approach taken by Russia and
Germany, who stand in favor of a political settlement to the Iraqi
problem within the framework of the United Nations," Agence
France-Presse (AFP) quoted a Kremlin statement as saying.
The
German government said in its own statement that Schroeder and Putin
agreed that U.N. weapons inspectors must be given more time to
complete checks for alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before
any debate on the use of force can begin.
"The
two sides agreed that all possible political opportunities for
realizing U.N. resolution 1441 should be used," the German
statement said.
"The
two sides agreed that inspectors must have enough time to complete
their missions in Iraq."
Germany,
which will preside over the U.N. Security Council in February, wants
the mandate of the U.N. inspectors to be extended to allow them to
continue their work of verifying suspected weapons sites.
Schroeder
has already ruled out a vote in favor of war at the Security Council,
but has not said if Germany would abstain or vote against such option.
Meanwhile
Russia, which has close trade ties with Iraq, has steadfastly opposed
a military option against Iraq and has called for any action to be
mandated by the U.N. Security Council where it has veto power.
But
Russia has not yet said how it might vote should there be a Council
voting on the matter.
U.S.
officials, however, said they believe existing U,N, resolutions on
Iraq are enough to authorize the use of force, adding that Washington
has not yet decided on whether to go to the Security Council for a
resolution authorizing strikes against Iraq.
Diplomats
believe the United States, which with Britain, is massing tens of
thousands of troops in the Gulf, might exploit any negative aspect in
Blix’s envisaged report to unleash war.
The
German and Russian leaders' statement come to add up to the voices of
opposition to any war against Iraq as the diplomatic solutions have
still greater chances to settle the problem.
The
mounting demands for a diplomatic solution has been met -as usual-
with American adamant determination to go it alone.
The
U.S. has "very convincing evidence" that Iraq keeps an
extensive weapons program, U.S. Secretary of State John Bolton claimed
in press remarks.
But
U.S. Secretary of State Powell played down the divisions after talks
Thursday, January 23, with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
He
acknowledged that "clearly there are sharp differences," but
insisted the debate is not yet over.
Powell
said differences were evident even before the U.N. Security Council in
November unanimously approved Resolution 1441 on disarming Iraq.
"we
will listen carefully to the inspectors' reports on Monday,"
Powell said, but also warned that a failure by the council to make
Iraq comply with disarmament demands would be a "serious defeat
for the United Nations process."
On
firm opposition by several American allies to join forces in any war
on Iraq. Powell said : "I don't think we'll have to worry about
going it alone. I'm quite confident that if it comes to that, we'll be
joined by many nations."
