'Time to heal Iraq divisions'

2003-06-27 15:41

London - Global divisions on Iraq are ready to be healed, said British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Whatever the differences there were over Iraq... we are working immensely closely on the international stage to confront the issues before us," he said during Putin's state visit to London.

"I am quite sure it is possible now to see how the international community can come back together and can manage to take forward in a constructive way the huge questions that are before us," he said.

"And I have no doubt at all that those sentiments will be echoed not just round Europe, but right around the world."

Blair and Putin met the press at the foreign office after a working lunch at Downing Street preceded by the signing of a major energy deal involving Britain's biggest oil group, BP.

Putin had opposed the United States-led war on Iraq, and he appeared to mock Blair during the prime minister's recent trip to Russia for the failure of US and British forces to find any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

'Profound gratitude' to Queen Elizabeth

Putin, who is wrapping up the first state visit to Britain by a Russian leader since tsarist times, said he and Blair had "exchanged views and visions" on Iraq and other international hotspots.

"On the Middle East, we are united in our understanding of the importance of the practical implementation of the visions set forth in the roadmap and the setting up of the appropriate mechanisms of monitoring," he said.

"We discussed the Iran subject and I informed the prime minister about the scale of Russian-Iranian co-operation.

"We were united on the need for the encouragement of Tehran in its co-operation with the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency)."

"We have similar assessment of the situation in Afghanistan," Putin added.

The talks at Blair's office took place in a "constructive and open atmosphere", said Putin, who expressed "profound gratitude" to Queen Elizabeth for hosting him at Buckingham Palace.

"I am moved by the warm feelings we have seen everywhere here.

Co-operation agreement for gas pipeline

"Warm feelings are a tradition for the relations between our countries and our contacts at all levels," said the Russian leader, who earlier toured Saint Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London.

Trade and investment deals confirmed during the visit, including a co-operation agreement to build a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, had made Britain the biggest foreign investor in Russia, said Putin.

"We reaffirmed the strategic character of our partnership.

"We have confirmed the dynamics of the political dialogue which sets the tone to the whole array of Russian-British interaction."

- AFX