Ivanov: Russia will vote against attacking Iraq

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stressed on Wednesday that Russia will not allow issuing any new resolution that authorizes directly or indirectly use of force against Iraq.

In a statement to Russia Commerseant and British Financial Times Newspapers, Ivanov affirmed that Russia will vote against using military force against Iraq and that Moscow will use the veto right at the Security Council if it is needed.

Ivanov stressed the necessity for supporting the inspectors efforts setting aside the possibility of issuing new UN Security Council resolution and "Principally I don't see it necessary now to issue this resolution" Ivanov said.

For his part, in a statement to Itar Tass, Russian Permanent Representative at the UN Sergey Lafrov underlined that Russia and the UN Security Council will not support any new resolution that gives the green light to launch a war on Iraq.