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Opening Remarks by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Sergey Lavrov at the Regular Session of the Russian MFA Scientific Council
"On the Urgent Foreign Policy Tasks of Russia" Held on May 31, 2004 (excerpted)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Daily News Bulletin
Jnne 7, 2004

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The developments around Iraq do not make for the strengthening of the unity of the antiterrorist coalition and they put many additional problems on the agenda, let alone the undermining of the foundations of the present world pattern, which rests on the Charter of the United Nations. There are ever more signs of the fact that many people are not averse from the around-Iraq events, or from the influence which the situation in Iraq exerts on present-day international relations, to draw the conclusion about the onset of an era of conflicts of civilizations. For our country such trends are extremely dangerous. In the same context new threats are emerging in the field of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including those in direct proximity to our borders. It is necessary to search for a way out of this situation exclusively on a collective basis, without alienating any country but, on the contrary, carrying on our President's line on developing partner relations with all states which are interested in this and on achieving our aims through dialogue, not confrontation. Of course, this presupposes further efforts jointly with the leading countries of the world, aimed at collectively tackling world problems, which presupposes having the United States of America necessarily enlisted in collective actions as well.

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