Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov today dismissed the "propaganda furore" surrounding Britain's dossier on Iraq, saying the return of weapons inspectors to Baghdad was the main priority.
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Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov (L) listens to NATO General Secretary Lord George Robertson during second day of the NATO defence ministers meeting in Warsaw.
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The British dossier, presented by Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday, said Iraq could launch a chemical or biological warhead at 45 minutes' notice and produce nuclear weapons in one to two years if it obtained essential components from abroad.
But Mr Ivanov told reporters: "I believe that only specialists and experts can judge whether or not Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. We have therefore sought the fastest possible return to Iraq of inspectors.
"It therefore seems to us that it is not worth creating a great propaganda furore around this report. We should wait for the conclusions of the experts. Only after that can any conclusions be drawn," he said.
Moscow has long called for the return of inspectors to Iraq and applauded Iraq's decision to allow the monitors to resume their activities for the first time since they left in 1998.
Russia, along with France, has also said that there is no need for any further UN Security Council resolution on the matter now that Iraq has agreed to allow the monitors unrestricted access to sites in the country.
The United States wants such a resolution to include tough language spelling out that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would face serious consequences if he failed to allow inspectors to proceed with their work unhindered.
But Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has suggested that talks in the Security Council on a new resolution could go ahead at the same time as inspections proceeded in Baghdad.