Prospects for a diplomatic settlement with Iraq over UN arms inspections have been "all but exhausted", the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, warned yesterday, making a US military strike against Baghdad more likely.
"Our patience is running out, she said after a meeting in Madrid with Mr Yevgeny Primakov, her Russian counterpart. The talks failed to overcome sharp differences between Washington and Moscow over the handling of the Iraqi crisis.
Mr Primakov said after more than two hours of talks with Ms Albright that Moscow insisted on seeking a negotiated solution. He was backed up by Mr Victor Chernomyrdin, the Russian Prime Minister, who said from Davos, where he was attending the World Economic Forum, that Moscow "strongly opposed" any western air strikes against Iraq.
"We're a little more patient," Mr Primakov said at the end of a joint press conference at Madrid airport, where he met the US Secretary of State. Ms Albright, on a five-day tour in Europe and the Middle East to drum up support for the US stand on Iraq, recognised that Russia was "working earnestly" for a peaceful solution, but added: "Despite all their best efforts, I am sceptical." It was important that the permanent members of the UN Security Council should be united on policy towards Baghdad, Ms Albright said. The international community needed to deliver "a strong message" to Iraq to step obstructing UN weapons inspectors.
"All options are open if there is not compliance," she said, accusing Baghdad of "a fundamental violation" of UN resolutions.
Ms Albright was briefed during the meeting on talks held earlier this week in Baghdad by special Russian envoy, Mr Viktor Posuvalyuk.
Ms Albright was due to meet Jordan's King Hussein in London yesterday and Mr Robin Cook, UK Foreign Secretary, today, before travelling to the Middle East.