"Russia will do everything not to allow this resolution in the U.N. Security Council," Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov was quoted as telling Interfax news agency.
Ivanov: "Not necessary at present to adopt any new resolutions." He added that even if a majority on the council supported the resolution, "it won't pass because Russia, France, Germany and China look on this draft extremely negatively and will not allow it to be adopted."
"As a permanent member Russia has, in its arsenal, quite a few means for stopping the adoption of a mistaken resolution.... The possibility of using the right of veto is one of those methods," Reuters quoted Fedotov as telling Itar-Tass.
Russia's foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, also criticized the ultimatum and warned Washington that attacking Iraq without the council's approval would violate the U.N. charter.
"We believe that it is not necessary at present to adopt any new resolutions," Ivanov told Russian state television, according to a Foreign Ministry transcript released Saturday.
"We believe that such ultimatums are not justified, moreover since the heads of the inspection groups themselves requested several months to complete their work.
"Therefore Russia, like many other countries, believes that such a resolution is inadvisable -- it doesn't further a political settlement of the situation around Iraq.
"If the United States unilaterally begins military action in relation to Iraq, it would violate the U.N. Charter and, of course, when the U.N. Charter is violated, the Security Council must gather, discuss the situation and make the corresponding decisions," Ivanov said.
"The path of political settlement may not be easy, but it is reliable. It guarantees peace in a tense region."
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