| | MIN. IGOR IVANOV: Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General, distinguished colleagues. Our meeting today is in its
way a unique occasion in the history of the United Nations. The United Nations
Security Council is meeting again as an urgent matter at the level of ministers
for foreign affairs to seek a solution to the most acute problem, a settlement
of the situation around Iraq.
This fact is further evidence that the
world community sees the United Nations as the most suitable mechanism for settling
the most burning issues facing the world today. For it is precisely within the
United Nations and the Security Council that all states have an opportunity on
an equal footing to seek solutions to problems involving the interests of general
security. And that is why, with each additional meeting of the Security Council,
the international community is further engaging hopes for strengthening the unity
and solidarity of states in the face of common threats and challenges.
Mr. Blix and Mr. ElBaradei's accounts today, and we would welcome them and thank
them for the enormous amount of useful work they are doing, their accounts have
shown very clearly that in Iraq, a unique potential has been established in this
area of inspections and monitoring. I think that in our discussions and conclusions,
we should be guided not by feelings, emotions and sympathies or antipathies vis-a-vis
one or another regime. Rather, we should be guided by the actual facts and on
the basis of those facts, draw up our conclusions. And this is why we supported
the return of the inspectors to Iraq. And this is why we must continue to provide
them with all necessary assistance, because it is only on the basis of the
professional data they provide us with that we can, without making a mistake,
come to a conclusion. The inspections carried out by the international
inspectors on a daily basis are proceeding smoothly, with the cooperation of the
Iraqis. Unimpeded access is available to all sites, including the most sensitive,
as is required, indeed, under Security Council Resolution 1441.
During
Mr. Blix and Mr. ElBaradei's last visit to Baghdad,
substantial progress was
made, and we cannot disregard that fact. Now there is no impediment to aerial
monitoring of the territory of Iraq using the American U-2, the French Mirage
and the Russian Antonov. The situation is improving, with interviews with
Iraqi scientists. They are now being held without minders. The Iraqis have provided
to UNMOVIC a whole number of new documents about past military programs.
The
Iraqis have set up two commissions that are to deal with searching for additional
materials. We simply cannot ignore these news facts.
If we think back
to our last meeting, on 5 February, we discussed these matters as pending and
we were asking Iraq to resolve these matters. And now, thanks to the last visit
by Messrs Blix and ElBaradei, these matters have now been resolved. So in fact
there is movement -- movement in the right direction, and we cannot ignore that.
We would urge Baghdad to continue increasing its cooperation with the international
inspectors. This is, after all, first and foremost, in its own interests. It is
perfectly clear that UNMOVIC and IAEA have the necessary conditions for carrying
out the tasks assigned to them. As far as we know, nobody is proposing changing
the mandate of UNMOVIC or IAEA, or introducing any changes into the unanimously
adopted Resolution 1441, but all -- or at least the overwhelming majority of states
in the world -- are saying that the Security Council of the United Nations must
continue to provide the inspectors with all support they need.
At the
same time, however, the work of the inspectors must be made more systematic and
focused. It is necessary to set clear tasks and then consistently follow up on
implementation.
This is a day when people get engaged, cementing their
greatest hopes. And it is our hope that we will be able to do likewise. Thank
you very much, Mr. President. | |
