Russia Joins Opposition to War in Iraq

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin joined France and Germany on Monday in calling for beefed-up arms inspections in Iraq, giving Paris a victory in its diplomatic campaign to block a U.S. war against the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Russia’s move complicated matters for the United States and reaffirmed French President Jacques Chirac as the leader of “the war against the war,” as commentators call it here. Chirac and Putin said U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq have already yielded results, rejecting Washington’s verdict that Iraqi intransigence has made inspections useless.

“We are against the war,” Putin said. “Both of our countries insist on the need to solve the problem and the crisis diplomatically.”

Iraq must cooperate actively, the French and Russian leaders said, and Baghdad on Monday acceded to a top demand of U.N. inspectors by announcing that it would allow U-2 spy planes to operate without restriction to bolster the monitors’ mission. But White House spokesman Scott McClellan said allowing the flights “does nothing to change the bottom line.”

Putin’s alignment with France and Germany and the agreement on the U-2 flights were not the only apparent setbacks for the Bush administration’s campaign against Iraq on Monday. During a heated meeting of NATO in Brussels, France, joined by Belgium and Germany, blocked the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from starting contingency plans to protect Turkey in the event of war. The three dissenting nations argued that preparing for war sends the wrong signal at the wrong time, but indignant U.S. officials accused them of causing a crisis in the alliance by failing to come to the defense of a member.

Russia and France are key players on the U.N. Security Council, which the U.S. is trying to rally to endorse military action against Iraq. In their declaration Monday, Putin and Chirac urged that the debate with the United States take place in a “spirit of friendship and respect.” But the message from both men was a clear rebuff to U.S. efforts to build a coalition for the use of force.

The world must work to avoid further bloodshed and turmoil in the Middle East, Chirac said.

“Nothing today justifies a war,” he said. “This region really does not need another war.”

France, Russia and Germany “favor the continuation of inspections and the substantial strengthening of their human and technical capacities by all possible means,” their joint declaration said. “There is still an alternative to war. The use of force could only be a last resort. Russia, Germany and France are determined to allow every opportunity for the peaceful disarmament of Iraq.”

Asked about Russia’s move to side with France and Germany, the White House responded with general remarks.

“There’s a lot of intensive diplomatic efforts going on right now,” McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One traveling with President Bush during a trip to Nashville.

“The question is, how much longer are we going to wait to enforce [Security Council Resolution] 1441.... There is a short period of time left for Saddam Hussein to disarm before the United Nations Security Council must come together and show its relevance by enforcing 1441.”

Putin Takes a Chance

Like the strategies of Chirac and Bush, Putin’s move was bold and risky -- especially for a leader who has made forging an alliance with the United States a foundation of his foreign policy.

The Russian president endorsed a French-German proposal for extended inspections, backed by aerial surveillance and possibly U.N. troops, that has already been rejected by U.S. leaders. Putin appeared to distance himself from Bush and potentially tilt the Security Council against the U.S. as a showdown approaches. On Friday, the top weapons inspectors will report on their progress to the council.

Putin’s decision amounts to “a new development in Russia’s policies,” said Dmitri Furman, a senior political analyst at the Institute of Europe, a Moscow think tank. Only two weeks ago, Putin appeared to take a hard line when he warned that Russia could change its policy if Hussein did not cooperate with weapons inspections.

The Russian president is trying to exploit the diplomatic advantages of the transatlantic dispute, Furman said.

“Both conflicting parties will now constantly try to lure Russia in and draw it over to their side,” he said. “Drifting from one camp to another, Russia continues to feel an important country, a global power that is free to choose its alliances and decide who to side with proceeding from its own interests.”

It remains to be seen whether Putin will stand firm with France and Germany as he maneuvers between U.S. hard-liners and European doves.

“He wants to retain good relations with the U.S. too,” said Dmitri Olshansky, director general of the Center for Strategic Analysis and Prognosis, another Moscow think tank. “Putin cannot and should not afford an exacerbation of relations between Russia and the U.S. ... The conflict plays right into the hands of Russia. And in that sense, Putin will never have to decide and show whose side he is ultimately on, until this global standoff is over -- if ever.”

The United States and France have always been wary allies with a tendency to bicker, but the relationship in recent days shows signs of serious deterioration, according to diplomats and analysts.

“I don’t remember the last time there was this level of tension,” said Jacques Beltran at the French Institute for International Research here. “The French press shows incomprehension of the Americans and questions their motives, saying they have economic reasons for war. The Americans insist that France’s only goal is to block the Americans, which is just as ridiculous. It’s a nasty climate.”

Asked about the rift with Washington, Chirac insisted that the U.S.-French alliance remains a foundation of global equilibrium.

“We are friends of the United States,” he said.

But he added that France has the right to its own opinions. And in an apparent swipe at the recent U.S. presentation of its case against Iraq to the Security Council, he said he was not aware of “indisputable proof” that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction.

In the Security Council

Both France and Russia hold permanent seats on the Security Council and have veto power. As for the other permanent members, China is likely to oppose military intervention and Britain is a staunch partner of the United States. Germany, a non-permanent member, currently chairs the council.

Chirac and Putin did not offer details of their proposal to bolster the inspections process. However, French diplomats have said in recent days that ideas under consideration include tripling the number of U.N. inspectors in Iraq, declaring the entire country a “no-fly” zone and increasing aerial surveillance -- all as 150,000 U.S. troops remain deployed around the nation to maintain pressure. Another idea, proposed by Germany, would deploy U.N. troops to back up the inspectors.

Chirac and Putin said Iraq has shown signs of better cooperation and must be pressured to do more.

“Progress in the relationship between Iraq and the U.N. inspectors is evident,” Putin said. “We intend to move along this path, putting even greater pressure on Iraq. For now that is enough.”

In their declaration, the three nations also made it clear that they speak for many other countries around the world that are determined in their opposition to a U.S. invasion of Iraq.

“Russia, Germany and France note that the position they express coincides with a large number of countries, within the Security Council in particular,” they concluded.

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Times staff writers Edwin Chen in Washington and David Holley in Moscow and special correspondent Alexei V. Kuznetsov of The Times’ Moscow Bureau contributed to this report.