MOSCOW - In the latest sign of U.S.-Russian
tensions over Iraq, the Foreign Ministry alleged Wednesday
that American airstrikes had targeted a residential Baghdad
neighborhood where the Russian Embassy is located.
U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow was called to the
ministry to hear a protest over the bombing, the ministry said
in a press statement.
"The Russian side demanded that
the American authorities take urgent and exhaustive measures
so that such dangerous and unacceptable incidents are not
repeated in the future," the ministry said.
The
ministry did not report any casualties in Wednesday's
airstrikes, but said "the security of the Russian diplomatic
representation's staff came under direct threat."
Russia's ambassador to Washington, Yuri Ushakov,
delivered a similar protest to U.S. officials, it said.
Asked about Vershbow's meeting at the Foreign
Ministry, a U.S. Embassy official said that U.S. forces are
designating only military targets and using only
precision-guided weapons in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Russian
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov lashed out at the United States
over allegations that Russian companies had provided Iraq with
military equipment in violation of U.N. sanctions.
Echoing previous official denials, Ivanov dismissed
Washington's allegations as "propaganda" intended to distract
attention from criticism of its military campaign in Iraq.
"Now that it's hot for them, they are raising an outcry. It's
not excluded that there will be other groundless accusations,"
Ivanov was quoted as saying by the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.
Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin added his
criticism of the war on Wednesday, calling it a "very crude
political, strategic mistake," the ITAR-Tass news agency
reported.
However, Yeltsin, who is visiting Japan,
cautioned against allowing U.S.-Russian relations to slide
back into Cold War animosity. "We overcame this with such
difficulty, and we can't return to it," Yeltsin said.
Amid the strain in U.S.-Russian relations, the lower
house of parliament last month put off ratification of a
nuclear arms reduction treaty signed last May, citing negative
feelings over Iraq.
Moderate lawmaker Vladimir
Ryzhkov, who is in charge of parliamentary contacts with the
U.S. Congress, pointed out Wednesday that Russia needs the
arms reduction treaty more than the United States, because it
can't afford large nuclear arsenals.
"It's wrong and
simply stupid to use the treaty to blackmail the Americans,"
Ryzhkov told a news conference.
Also Wednesday,
Russia's lower house refused to consider a motion to provide
massive humanitarian aid to Iraq. Only 105 lawmakers of the
226 necessary to put the draft resolution on the agenda voted
to open debate on the statement, which was put forward by a
nationalist party.
The Russian government has said the
"occupying forces" in Iraq should have primary responsibility
for the country's civilian population. At the same time, it
has sought to ensure that Russian contracts under the
U.N.-sponsored oil-for-food humanitarian program are honored.
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