Today's Date:

THE MINISTER – (...) I'm obviously particularly pleased to be back in Moscow in the company of my colleague and friend Igor Ivanov. It's an important meeting for me because it comes a few weeks, as Igor Ivanov reminded us, before President Putin's visit to Paris. It's a long-awaited visit, very important for the French. We have had to take detailed stock of all the current major issues against a background of international tension. We talked, as Igor Ivanov said, about the major regional issues, Iraq of course, and North Korea. We also talked about the battle against terrorism and I welcome Russia's support for France's proposal. A meeting at interministerial level is scheduled to take place very soon. We talked too, quite obviously, about the various crises, the situation in the Middle East. We talked about the situation in Chechnya and I signalled the huge importance France attaches to a solution being found to the issue of the OSCE's presence in Chechnya.

IRAQ

As regards Iraq, I emphasized our objectives which we share with Russia. As you know, collaboration and cooperation between our two countries has been exemplary since the beginning of the crisis. The objective, as you know, is the disarmament of Iraq, the full implementation of UNSCR 1441 which sets the framework in which the international community, the United Nations, want to act. We want to obtain Iraq's active cooperation, so it's important for all the obscure areas in the Iraqi declaration to be clarified. We're also keen for all the countries with specific, pertinent information to send this to the UNSCOM and IAEA inspectors. Finally, we want the UNSCOM and the IAEA inspectors to be given all the necessary resources and facilities to carry out the inspections and do their work under the conditions most conducive to ensuring that these are as effective as possible. It's with this in mind that this morning I sent a letter to all the members of the Security Council and the Secretary-General specifying what, in the framework of our Security Council presidency for the month of January, France deems essential for the effective implementation of the resolution and for ensuring that the cooperation we want to spearhead on this issue is totally effectual.

NORTH KOREA

We also talked about the situation of North Korea, another challenge issued to the international community which seriously undermines security, increases the risk of nuclear proliferation. Here too, we must find ways to put our major principles into practice: respect for the law and moral values. Our objective is for North Korea to honour all her international commitments. To this end, every effort must be made: bilateral initiatives, regional consultations, and the efforts in the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency, but also, where necessary and at the appropriate moment, in the framework of the Security Council. We share our Russian friends' feeling of urgency; in this crisis as in the others, we want the international community to be able to display unity, coherence and also firmness.

MIDDLE EAST

Finally, (...) we talked too, of course, about the situation in the Middle East. We talked about the presidency of the G8, looking ahead to the Evian summit and in the context of our determination to approach all the major issues in a spirit of close cooperation, closely liaising with our Russian friends.

IRAQ/US AND FRENCH POSITIONS

THE MINISTER – You're asking me about the attitudes of France and the United States. I think it's necessary to repeat, because it tends to be forgotten, that the international community has a united position on the Iraq issue. This is why we succeeded in getting UNSCR 1441 adopted unanimously, clearly signalling the international community's determination to go through the United Nations, to opt for seeking cooperation in order to obtain Iraq's disarmament. That's our goal and it's what we are doing. It's been under way for several weeks. We welcome the way the inspections are being able to be conducted. Quite obviously, we're keen – and this is what I have repeated and specified in the letter sent to all the members of the Security Council – for this cooperation to be very active and for Iraq to understand the need for this active cooperation, and we'd like all the members of the Security Council to provide all the information in their possession so as to make this cooperation more effective.

Over the next few weeks, we shall have the opportunity to take stock of the progress of the inspections, the development of this cooperation. Some key dates have already been set and we wish to have all the information on the actual situation on the spot. We are in constant contact with the inspectors who are doing their work on the ground, the Executive Chairman of UNSCOM, Mr Hans Blix, and the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr Mohamed ElBaradei. It's their job to give us this information. Clearly, for us, the aim is to maintain this unity, this cohesion of the international community and Security Council because we are convinced that it's the prime requirement for efficiency. If we are united, we can send a firm message to Iraq and make sure that this cooperation ensures Iraq's disarmament under the most satisfactory conditions./.