Secretary-General's press encounter with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov of the Russian Federation (unofficial transcript)

As you can see, I've just had a meeting with Foreign Minister Ivanov and we discussed Iraq and the Middle East peace process. On Iraq, we did discuss the UN role and also the discussion that is taking place between Council Members and the efforts that everyone is making to make sure that we move ahead in a constructive manner and also try and restore the unity of the Council.

On the issue of the Middle East, we both believe that it is important that the road map be released as soon as the new Prime Minister, Mr. Abu Mazen, has formed his government. And of course, the settlement of that long-standing problem will have a very positive impact on developments in the region.

FM Ivanov (Translated from the Russian): The Secretary-General has just said now we see active consultations about Iraq in different format.

We are consulting with other members of the UN Security Consul as we are going to go on with this work in the near future.

Russia believes that now it is very important for the UN Security Council members to coordinate efforts to solve the problem of Iraq and the problem of further restoring this country and of course in this process the UN should play a central major role.

Within the course of our discussions, we should formulate the questions, we should further talk and we should also discuss the UN role in this process. And we believe that in the course of constructive discussions we can go to the mutual understanding in the UN Security Council. At least Russia will do all the necessary for this end and I have told the Secretary-General this.

As far as the Middle East settlement is concerned, as the Secretary-General has just said, we stand for that after the forming of the Palestinian Government headed by Mr. Abu Mazen, we should give them the road map which was elaborated by the Quartet. And within the framework of this road map, it is necessary that both sides should implement the steps set forth. And we hope that during today's consultations in different formats we are going on to discuss these problems.

I would say even more, the irreplaceable role of the United Nations, because there are functions determined by the UN Charter which no other organization can replace. If you have doubts about the central role, let us say irreplaceable role…

Q: What about Syria, Mr. Ivanov and the threats against this country? This is also a question for Mr. Annan. Because we are speaking about a road map and instead we have a war map.

FM Ivanov: As far as Syria is concerned, someone has questions about weapons of mass destruction. What are the questions? There exist bi-lateral channels or other channels, political channels, through which these programs should be discussed? Now it is very dangerous to overcomplicate the situation in the region which is complicated now.

Q: What about Syria, Mr. Secretary-General?

SG: I think you got an answer.

Q: Which you favour a Bonn-like process like in Afghanistan?

SG: That's only part of the scheme. We are talking about a much broader option because the responsibilities attached to post-conflict Iraq is much more than just a Bonn process. And I think, as the Minister says, the discussions that are taking place between Council Members, which include both coalition and non-coalition members, is precisely to work out and define in functional terms what “vital role” means.