Moscow: Amidst the US-led war on Iraq, Russia has hailed the common stand adopted by
Moscow and New Delhi for a peaceful solution to the crisis and for strengthening the
role of the United Nations in world affairs.
In a message to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Russian President Vladimir
Putin said, "I note with satisfaction the consonance in our assessment of the
situation now unfolding around Iraq, including in the UN Security Council."
"In reality, the talk is about the means of resolving those acute problems, which
mankind would have to face in the coming years and decades," Putin said.
"Our country's stand is based on unconditional adherence to the UN Charter and
fundamental norms and principles of the international law," Putin wrote to Vajpayee
in his response to the Indian Prime Minister's earlier message, Kremlin Press
Service said.
Putin highly praised India's 'deep interest' in strengthening the authority of the
UN and expressed Moscow's readiness to further develop interaction with the 'Indian
partners' to achieve this goal.
Putin also noted that Russia and India fully shared the stance on taking all the
possible steps to avert any damage to the UN mechanism.
"The international community simply has no other such universal mechanism, required
by all and each nation as the United Nations Organisation," Putin asserted.
Putin's message to Vajpayee acquires significance in the wake of the US-led attack
on Iraq in violation of the UN Charter, a Kremlin official told reporters.
PTI
