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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (50933)	10/10/2002 5:50:09 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

OT "James Woolsley said the situation was hard, because France and Russian oil companies were in bed with Iraq...." I'm thinking, ..ménage a trois (from your inadvertent double entendre LOLOL)

To: KLP who wrote (50933)	10/10/2002 5:59:47 PM
From: Rascal	Respond to of 281500

Moscow names price to back campaign By George Trefgarne, Julius Strauss in Moscow and Andrew Sparrow (Filed: 10/10/2002) A senior Kremlin official indicated yesterday that Russia would demand a high price for its support in the campaign against Iraq but that it would not ultimately stand in America's way. With Tony Blair due in Moscow this afternoon, the Kremlin's senior spokesman said Russia would adopt a "pragmatic" position over Iraq, shorthand for a demand that it must receive substantial financial compensation. Briefing western journalists, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, President Vladimir Putin's official spokesman, said: "The devil will be in the details of these [United Nations] resolutions but our position is essentially pragmatic. What is interesting for us is our economic and financial interests." France also moved closer to accepting the inevitability of war in Iraq yesterday, while continuing to criticise America for its hawkish stance. Following a parliamentary debate on Iraq on Tuesday evening, the French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, said France would not use its Security Council veto because that would deprive it of its influence. While France still appeared wedded to its insistence that there must be two UN resolutions on Iraq, it was not clear whether Russia would maintain a similar stance. Under the French proposal, the first resolution would instruct Saddam Hussein to admit inspectors to destroy his weapons of mass destruction and the second would authorise force if he obstructed their work. Britain and America would prefer a single tough resolution. In a BBC interview last night, the Prime Minister played down suggestions that Mr Putin would be demanding huge financial guarantees in return for offering his support in a war against Iraq. "Obviously, there are interests that Russia has in this issue but I don't think it's a question of price tags," Mr Blair said. "It's a question of making sure that we do this in such a way that the world is made a safer place, that Iraq can develop and that the interests of everybody, including Russia, are taken account of." Nonetheless, Mr Yastrzhembsky said the Kremlin's policy on Iraq was driven by economic concerns. At the heart of Russia's fears are the effects that a war in Iraq might have on the price of oil. Moscow, which relies on oil for half its external income, fears that if Saddam is deposed, America may attempt to flood the market with cheap Iraqi oil to bolster its own economy. Economists say that for Russia, still battling with the huge costs of economic restructuring, a steep fall in the oil price could provoke financial disaster. Mr Yastrzhembsky said: "We are heavily dependent on world oil prices and it is difficult to anticipate the consequence of an attack on Iraq." The price of oil, currently at $29 a barrel, is widely expected to fall if Washington launches a successful war on Iraq. Mr Yastrzhembsky said Russia could cope with a fall in price to $18 a barrel but not any lower. Moscow said it will also be looking for guarantees that Russian companies would be able to keep valuable oilfields in western Iraq if Saddam is deposed. Meanwhile the UN demanded freedom of action when its inspectors return to Iraq. According to a document seen by Reuters news agency, Iraq has agreed that the inspectors would be "granted immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access to sites," including government ministries, but it dodged the issue of Saddam's eight palace compounds, which were subject to special procedures in 1998. telegraph.co.uk Rascal@allwarsareeconomic.com