MOSCOW. Sept 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Thursday that "the presence of international forces in Iraq is necessary at the present stage" but that this presence "should be defined by a specific mandate that must be approved by the UN Security Council."
"We believe that at the present stage the presence of international forces is necessary as there are no state structures in Iraq today that can immediately take responsibility for security," Ivanov said during a New York-Moscow television conference.
"But this presence must be defined by a specific mandate that must also be approved by the UN Security Council. Such a mandate should set objectives for the international forces and the time limit for their stay in Iraq."
Ivanov insisted that the United Nations should oversee "political processes and security matters" in Iraq.
"This does not mean that we are putting the withdrawal of the coalition forces stationed there on the agenda," he said.