#2
BBC Monitoring
Putin Says World Must Be Governed By International Law,
Not "Rule of the Fist"
Source: RTR Russia TV, Moscow, in Russian 1145 gmt 20 Mar 03
The world must be governed by international law, not "the rule of the
fist", Russian President Putin said in a televised statement on military
action against Iraq. He said no country in the world will be safe if the current
system of international security is allowed to collapse. There was no need for
war as the UN and weapons inspections had been making progress, he said. Russia
wants the war to end as soon as possible and will work to achieve a solution of
the situation that preserves the Iraqi people's legitimate interests and their
country's sovereignty, Putin said. The following is the text of the statement,
broadcast by Russia TV on 20 March:
Vesti presenter Mariya Sittel: Hello, this is a special edition of Vesti. We
have just received a statement by Vladimir Putin at a meeting in the Kremlin.
Putin: Today the United States started a military action against Iraq. There
are already human casualties and destruction. An entire region finds itself in
danger of a large-scale humanitarian and ecological catastrophe. I should stress
straight away that the hostilities are being carried out against world public
opinion, against the principles and norms of international law and the UN
Charter. This military action cannot be justified by anything: neither by the
accusations that Iraq supports international terrorism - we have never had and
we do not have information to support this - nor by the desire to change the
political regime in this country, a desire which directly contradicts
international law and should be determined only by the citizens of this or any
other state. And finally, there was no need for hostilities in order to answer
the main question which was raised directly by the international community:
namely are there are or are there not weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and
if there are, then what should be done and in what period in order to eliminate
them.
Furthermore, at the moment the operation started, Iraq did not represent any
danger either to neighbouring states nor to other countries and regions of the
world, since, especially after a 10-year blockade, it was a weak country, both
in military and economic terms. And apart from that, it did not represent a
danger because international inspectors were at work there. On the contrary,
recently their work had led to serious positive results.
I would like to point out that the joint work done within the framework of
the UN Security Council, including with the United States of America, such as
the unanimous passing of Resolution 1441, which did not give any right to use
force, but allowed the international inspectors to start their activities again,
as well as a range of other measures to influence the Iraqi leadership, had laid
the foundations for the disarmament of Iraq by peaceful means.
With this in mind, however the situation involving Iraq turns out, in the
name of Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, I would like
to address the UN secretary-general and the international inspectors. I would
like to offer them words of thanks and gratitude. They carried out their duties
honestly and responsibly, showing a degree of high professionalism and courage.
I'm sure that the international community will still require the services of the
international inspectors in future.
Military action against Iraq is a great political mistake. I have already
spoken about the humanitarian side of the issue. However, the danger that the
current system of international security will collapse causes us no less
concern. If we allow international law to be replaced with the rule of the fist,
according to which the strongest has the right to do whatever he wants and is
not limited by anything in choosing means to achieve his goals, then one of the
basic principles of international law will be called into question - the
principle of the inviolability of a state's sovereignty. Then nobody and no
country of the world will feel safe. The vast hotbed of instability which has
emerged today will grow and cause negative consequences in other regions of the
world.
It is for these reasons that Russia insists that military action be ended as
soon as possible. We are still certain that the central role in the resolution
of crisis situations in the world, including the one in Iraq, must belong to the
UN Security Council.
I would like to emphasize that Russia intends to take a line aimed at
returning the situation to the use of peaceful methods and at the achievement of
a genuine solution to the Iraq issue on the basis of UN Security Council
resolutions. This solution should take into account the legitimate interests of
the Iraqi people, as well as respect for Iraq's sovereignty and territorial
integrity.
We gathered here to discuss the situation that arose when military actions
began, from the point of view of consequences for the Russian economy and our
initial and subsequent actions to ensure Russia's security.
Presenter: That was Vladimir Putin's statement on the Iraq situation.
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