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— ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday there could be no military solution to the crisis in Iraq and called for the issue to be solved within the United Nations.

"We stand for the fastest return of this issue to the framework of the United Nations," Putin said after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The two were later to meet French President Jacques Chirac, who, like them, opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

"Russia and Germany are in favor of a political solution. There are no prospects for a military solution," he said in a speech in Russia's second city.

Chirac, Schroeder and Putin gathered to press home calls for the United Nations to oversee reconstruction after U.S. and British forces secured control over Baghdad and ended President Saddam Hussein's rule.

Secretary of State Colin Powell has poured scorn on appeals to allow the United Nations to take a leading role in postwar Iraq. A top Pentagon official suggested on Thursday the three would better contribute to reconstruction by forgiving debts to any new Iraqi government.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in Dushanbe earlier on Friday that it was up to the United Nations to safeguard international peace and security.

photo credit and caption:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said April 11, 2003 there were no prospects for a military solution to the crisis in Iraq and called for the issue to be solved within the United Nations. An American soldier stands at checkpoint on the way to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, April 11. Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters

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