MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti)-The United Nations should play a central role in settling the situation in Iraq, Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, told journalists Thursday after a meeting with State Duma (the lower house of Russian parliament) deputies.
"It is necessary to look at this as an attempt to achieve a solution to the situation in Iraq," he said. "It is impossible to operate with yesterday' methods. Russia's initiative for Iraq, to hold an international conference with all Iraq political forces, including the opposition, all of Iraq's neighbors and the UN Security Council is well-known." According to him, such a conference under aegis of the UN could develop the groundwork for a settlement in Iraq that is acceptable to the Iraqis and their neighbors.
