Any UN resolution automatically calling for war on Iraq would be unacceptable, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday while welcoming US pressure on Iraq because it was forcing Baghdad to cooperate.
"We find it unacceptable to adopt a resolution that foresees the use of force," Putin told journalists after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
He said that Russia's position on the Iraq issue had remained unchanged. "We must resolve this situation through peaceful means and make sure that Iraq complies with the UN resolutions," he added.
"We believe that the potential of (UN Security Council) Resolution 1441 is far from having been exhausted."
The resolution, which was adopted on November 8, gave Iraq a final opportunity to scrap its weapons of mass destruction.
Putin said, "I think that the pressure that the US is putting on Iraq also has a useful side and is forcing Iraq to cooperate" with UN disarmament inspectors.
"But it is important that we do not cross that line where there can no longer be a peaceful solution," he added.
"We think that international inspectors must make precise demands to Iraq and make sure that they (the Iraqis) comply with them," he added.
"Much will depend on the responsible stands of Iraq itself. This is why we intend to continue working with Iraq, to make sure that it conscientiously complies with the UN."
Putin said he was optimistic and was not losing hope that there will be a peaceful resolution to the stand-off between Washington and Baghdad.
"I have never heard it said by the US president that he wants to have a war," he said.
On his arrival in Moscow, Schroeder had called on Iraq to destroy its Al-Samoud missiles, as demanded by UN weapons inspectors.
"Iraq must cooperate with all (UN) demands, including the destruction of its Al-Samoud missiles," Schroeder said, quoted by Russian news agency Interfax.
Germany and Russia joined France in presenting a memorandum to the United Nations on Monday, urging a peaceful disarmament of Iraq through expanded and intensified UN weapons inspections.
The memorandum was seen as a counter-proposal to the resolution filed by the United States, Britain and Spain on Monday, which noted that Iraq has "failed to take the final opportunity" to disarm and warned of "serious consequences" if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fails to meet UN demands.
The issue is seen as a key test of whether Iraq is fulfilling its obligation to cooperate with UN arms inspectors investigating its alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Speaking after his talks with Putin, Schoeder said Berlin and Moscow were "united in the fact that Iraq must disarm and that this can be achieved through peaceful means."
He said that Germany and Russia were striving for a peaceful settlement to the crisis "because of our mutual history".
"Both Russia and Germany know from our bitter history what war is," he said. "Perhaps this explains why we are cooperating on this."