The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
414.
Following
discussions with Mr Blair, President Putin stated on 11
October
that he
supported an effective inspections regime but questioned whether
there
was
evidence that Iraq had any weapons of mass
destruction.
415.
In preparation
for Mr Blair’s meeting with President Putin, the FCO
advised
that Russia
was negotiating but its position was that there was no need for a
new
resolution.144
It was
unlikely to agree a resolution which would allow military
action
without
further reference to the Security Council. The FCO suggested
Mr Blair would
wish
to:
•
“major on
Iraq”;
•
reassure
President Putin that the overriding objective was “to remove WMD
from
Iraq and
therefore to ensure the inspectors have a means of doing so”, and
that
we would
“continue to take full account of Russian views”; and
•
say that if
military action became “inevitable”, the long‑term stability of
Iraq
would be “a
key consideration”.
416.
Mr Blair
met President Putin on 10 and 11 October.145
417.
President
Putin emphasised that action against Saddam Hussein should
be
channelled
through the UN.
418.
Mr Blair
and President Putin also discussed the political and economic
constraints,
including
the effect on Russia of a reduction in the price of oil if Saddam
Hussein were
overthrown
and the supply of Iraqi oil on the world market
increased.
419.
In the
subsequent joint press conference President Putin stated that he
agreed the
“need to
take into account the experience of the work done by the UN
inspectors” and
“to take a
decision to ensure the effective operation of the UN
inspectors”.146
For the
first
time,
President Putin added:
“With this
purpose we don’t exclude … the possibility of adopting a UN
resolution.”
420.
Asked what he
thought about the UK dossier, President Putin replied:
“Russia
does not have in its possession any trustworthy data which would
support
the
existence of nuclear weapons or any weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq and
we have not
received from our partners such information as yet.
144
Letter
Davies to Manning, 8 October 2002, ‘Prime Minister’s Visit to
Russia, 10‑11 October 2002’.
145
Letter
Manning to McDonald, 12 October 2002, ‘The Prime Minister’s visit
to Moscow on 10/11
October: Iraq’.
146
The
Guardian, 11
October 2002, Russian
rebuff for Blair over Iraq.
276