11 June 2004 15:52
Russia has no plans to send troops to Iraq - spokesman
Moscow, 11 June: Russia "is not planning to send service personnel to Iraq", Russian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko said in Moscow today.
"The security situation in the country remains difficult, and the Russian Foreign Ministry considers the return
of specialists from Russian companies to Iraq to be inexpedient," Yakovenko said. "They can return there only
when the necessary conditions are in place." Replying to a question on Iraq's debts, Yakovenko noted that
"the debt problem should be resolved within the framework of the Paris Club".
Yakovenko noted that "the latest UN Security Council resolution contains a provision on holding an international
conference on Iraq, but so far no preparations for it are being carried out." "Russia considers that holding
such a forum would be useful for the support of relations between the new Iraqi government and its neighbours, and I
hope that it will be held," Yakovenko said.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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