MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has noted that the absence of an appropriate UN Security Council resolution will make any foreign invasion of Iraq illegal.
"In the absence of the UN Security Council's decision, occupation will be the result of the illegitimate use of force against the country's territorial integrity and political independence," Ivanov said in the State Duma on Friday.
The foreign minister also noted that the military campaign against Iraq has already brought civilian casualties.
"It is not quite clear how international humanitarian law will be observed during this operation. (The law - Interfax) ban attacks on civilians and civilians facilities, the use of non- precision weapons and harming the environment," the minister said.
Asked whether the steps taken by the United States and Great Britain can be called an aggression, Ivanov stressed that "only the UN Security Council, not any individual countries," can make this decision. "I personally view the military operation as illegal," he said.
The foreign minister also noted that Russia, together with other countries that oppose the actions of the United States and Britain in Iraq, "will ask the UN's legal service" to give its legal assessment of this operation. "If the UN legal service accepts our arguments, this will reinforce our case" in opposing the military operation, Ivanov said.