RUSSIA: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggests new mediator to chair Kosovo talks and urges U.S. to involve Iran in solving Iraq situation

A collective solution involving all major powers plus Iran is the only way to stop the sectarian violence tearing Iraq apart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says on Saturday. The United States needs to show more flexibility towards Iran to solve the crisis over the country's nuclear ambitions, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday (March 17) . "A significant part of the problem ... is linked to U.S. unwillingness to normalise its relations with Tehran on the basis of generally accepted principles," Lavrov told a conference. "On North Korea, they were able to show flexibility, they were able to reach a compromise and got away from demands in the form of ultimatums". "I think the same approach would help restart negotiations on the Iranian nuclear dossier as well," Lavrov said. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday his country would not yield to international pressure to abandon its nuclear fuel cycle despite a United Nations' agreement this week on new sanctions against Tehran. A draft resolution to impose new U.N. sanctions on Iran for its nuclear programme was sent to the council on Thursday. It has already been agreed by the council's five members with veto power -- the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia. The new measure would penalise Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear bombs or for peaceful ends. The sanctions would be suspended if Iran complied and returned to negotiations. The West fears Iran's atomic work is aimed at building atomic weapons. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, denies it. Lavrov said there was a need to draw up a new strategy and this time on a collective basis to " correct the situation in Iraq " and in the Middle East. "It is possible to realise the potential of moderate political forces in Iraq and move that country in the right direction. It can only be done by involving Iran but not going over its head". Russian President Vladimir Putin has severely criticised U.S. policies in Iraq, saying they have destabilised the Middle East. Russia's protests were ignored when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. Russia had a number of lucrative oil deals with the government of Saddam Hussein before it was overthrown in 2003, and Moscow hopes to revive them in negotiations with the new government. Lavrov also suggested that talks on the future status of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province should continue under a new U.N. mediator. Current mediator Martti Ahtisaari has ended talks between Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority on a proposal to set the U.N.-overseen province on the path to independence. Russia has called his move premature and on Friday said more talks were needed to settle the final status of Kosovo. Ahtisaari sent his proposal to the United Nations for consideration on Thursday, without prolonging efforts to win approval from Serbia. He said : "At this stage, taking into account how these positions have been formulated, it is necessary to continue the negotiations. If Martti Ahtisaari thinks he has done all he can, then almost certainly one can find another person who will do it." Last Saturday Ahtisaari declared an end to over a year of fruitless Serb-Albanian talks and said it was now up to the Security Council to decide whether to give Kosovo independence. Western analysts and diplomats say Russia was determined to delay and dilute, but not necessarily block, the Western-backed proposal. Lavrov, who repeated that any solution should be acceptable to both Belgrade and Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, signalled for the first time that Russia would not automatically veto a proposal in the Council if it did not have Serbian backing. "We cannot be more Serbian than the Serbs and we cannot announce that under any circumstances, we would block a solution that does not suit the sides. Everything will depend on the sides' positions", he said.

ITN Source | March 17, 2007

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