Russia aimed another diplomatic salvo at Washington yesterday, saying its "occupation" of Iraq was wrecking global stability and rejecting its request to expel Iraqi diplomats and freeze bank accounts belonging to President Saddam Hussein.
President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanov launched their attacks on the US almost simultaneously, in comments that reinforced Moscow's opposition to war in Iraq, where Russian companies fear for their major oil interests and the Kremlin hopes to recoup $8 billion in long-overdue debt.
"The crisis has spilled beyond local boundaries and has become a potential source of instability in other regions, including the Commonwealth of Independent States," Mr Putin said at a meeting of officials from the CIS, a loose coalition of former Soviet states.
"The war against Iraq is a decision that could trigger unpredictable consequences, including a rise in extremism," Mr Putin told the officials, many of whom represent autocratic states that claim to be fighting their own Islamic extremists. At the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, Mr Ivanov launched into an impassioned speech denouncing US policy in the Gulf.
"Attempts to present this military action as something aimed at liberating Iraq can only cause bewilderment," Russia's top diplomat said.
"No one ever asked the United States to liberate Iraq from anyone." "We have questions about the planned military occupation of Iraq," Mr Ivanov told a receptive gathering of parliamentarians. "Without corresponding resolutions from the UN Security Council, this occupation would be illegal.
