Iraq

Declaration Russia - Germany - France

(3/5/2003)

• Our common objective remains the full and effective disarmament of Iraq, in compliance with Resolution 1441.

• We consider that this objective can be achieved by the peaceful means of the inspections.

• We moreover observe that these inspections are producing increasingly encouraging results:
• The destruction of the Al-Samoud missiles has started and is making progress,
• Iraqis are providing biological and chemical information,
• The interviews with Iraqi scientists are continuing.

• Russia, Germany and France resolutely support Messrs Blix and El-Baradei and consider the meeting of the Council on 7 March to be an important step in the process put in place.

• We firmly call for the Iraqi authorities to co-operate more actively with the inspectors to fully disarm their country. These inspections cannot continue indefinitely.

• We consequently ask that the inspections now be speeded up, in keeping with the proposals put forward in the memorandum submitted to the Security Council by our three countries. We must:
• Specify and prioritise the remaining issues, programme by programme,
• Establish, for each point, detailed timelines.

• Using this method, the inspectors have to present without any delay their work programme accompanied by regular progress reports to the Security Council. This programme could provide for a meeting clause to enable the Council to evaluate the overall results of this process.

• In these circumstances, we will not let a proposed resolution pass that would authorise the use of force.

Russia and France, as permanent members of the Security Council, will assume all their responsibilities on this point.

 

• We are at a turning point. Since our goal is the peaceful and full disarmament of Iraq, we have today the chance to obtain through peaceful means a comprehensive settlement for the Middle-East, starting with a move forward in the peace process, by :

• Publishing and implementing the roadmap ;
• Putting together a general framework for the Middle-East, based on stability and security, renunciation of force, arms control and trust building measures.