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Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out Friday that the US-led war against Iraq has failed to achieve its goal of disarming that country, Itar-Tass reported.
Putin was speaking after talks in the city of Saint Petersburg with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac, aimed at promoting a central role for the United Nations in postwar Iraq.
"If only talking about the legitimacy (of the war in Iraq), there should be a sole task -- to disarm Iraq," Putin said, adding that "this goal has not been achieved."
He emphasized that Saddam's regime did not use weapons of mass destruction even in its dying moment, which indicated that either Iraq had no such weapons or their condition was such that they could not be used.
He stressed that the search for weapons of mass destruction could resume only after UN inspectors return to Iraq.
(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2003)
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