Russia Ready to Veto U.S. Resolution on Iraq

The Russian news agency Interfax had the answer to the question that is circulating through millions of minds: Would Russia use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block a U.S. effort to invade Iraq?

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the news agency that Russia would indeed use the veto to block any resolution that gives Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a March 17 deadline to disarm.

"In the course of the latest session of the U.N. Security Council, we did not hear serious arguments for the use of force to solve the Iraqi problem," the Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying.

"Russia believes that no further resolutions of the U.N. Security Council are necessary, and therefore Russia openly declares that if the draft resolution that currently has been introduced for consideration and which contains demands in an ultimate form that cannot be met is nonetheless put to a vote then Russia will vote against this resolution."

Extra Time for Inspectors Sought

Russia, like France and Germany, wants the mission of the U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq extended. It has said reports to the Security Council have shown that Iraq is cooperating and that progress toward its disarmament is being made.

The Interfax story was circulated as French President Jacques Chirac and other opponents of a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq mulled over the possibility of holding an emergency summit of U.N. Security Council members to search for a compromise that could stop a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's spokesman, Bela Anda, said on Monday that Schröder endorsed the idea and had told Chirac of his support during a weekend telephone call.

But Anda said the chancellor would have to watch developments before deciding whether he would actually travel to New York. The chancellor also discussed the issue on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Blair Runs Into Opposition

While European opponents of the United States solidified their ranks over the weekend, British Prime Minister Tony Blair watched his support at home crack.

His international development secretary, Clare Short, described Blair (photo) as "reckless" on Sunday and said she would resign if there was no second U.N. resolution for an invasion. "I will not uphold a breach of international law or this undermining of the U.N., and I will resign from the government," Short said.

Her threat came as one junior government member resigned from his post amid speculation that four others could follow as Blair's Labour Party faced its biggest internal rift since it came to power in 1997. More than 120 Labour parliamentarians recently voted against the government over war against Iraq, and more are expected to join the revolt if there is no support from the United Nations.

French leading resistance

Schröder's endorsement came in response to a proposal first raised on Friday by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin after the Security Council heard the latest report from U.N. inspectors about their hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The chief U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, gave the council a mixed report. He said Iraq's move to begin destroying its al Samoud 2 missiles constituted "a substantial measure of disarmament" but criticized the rate at which Iraq had handed over documents on prohibited chemical and biological systems.

Dissatisfied with the findings, the United States and Britain then circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would give Iraq until March 17 to disarm or face the use of force. A vote on the resolution is expected this week, possibly on Tuesday.

Continuing its strong opposition, France told the council that it would not accept the compliance deadline. "We cannot accept an ultimatum as long as the inspectors are reporting cooperation," de Villepin said. He also unveiled the plan to call a summit of council members at which leaders of the 15-nation body could work through the tense issue.

"War is not a small thing," Chirac's office said on Saturday in explaining the president's rationale for the summit. "When you declare death or life, this merits being taken to the highest level of responsibility, (where leaders could) think through crisis management."

Unlike Russia, Chirac is apparently reluctant to use France's veto in the Security Council. The French president would prefer to see the resolution voted down by the council members and is focusing his efforts on conducting intense telephone diplomacy with the other members on the 15-nation Council. The United States would need nine votes to win approval of its resolution. In search of France's own supporters, de Villepin was in Africa on Monday in a 24-hour bid to win the support of Angola, Cameroon and Guinea.

Powell rejects summit idea

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed the French idea of a summit over the weekend, saying he saw no need for such a summit when key powers have been expressing their views "openly and candidly."

Powell and U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice continued to press the case of President George W. Bush in television interviews on Sunday. Both made clear that Bush was ready to move toward war -- with or without U.N. backing

In Germany, Schröder and his coalition partner, the Greens, have been united in fighting against a possible war in Iraq. But on Monday a potential point of disagreement emerged between the two partners over U.S. use of German airspace during a war that was not sanctioned by the United Nations.

Schröder has promised the Americans that he would allow them to use their bases in the country as well as German airpsace. But a co-leader of the Greens, Angelika Beer, questioned in an interview published on Monday whether Schröder could grant use rights. "There will have to be a discussion among other NATO partners who, like Germany, don't want to support the American-British resolution in the Security Council," Beer told the newspaper Die Welt.

After hearing about the interview, Anda said Schröder would stand behind his pledge. And the Greens' other co-leader, Reinhard Bütikofer, contradicted Beer. "There are no differences of opinion between the Greens and the federal government," Bütikofer said.