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Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and his French counterpart, Dominique de Villepin, have expressed concern over the increasing civilian casualties in Iraq and insisted on a prompt end to the US-led war in the Middle East country.
According to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement on Wednesday, Ivanov and Villepin discussed the situation in Iraq during a telephone conversation.
However, the statement did not say when the conversation was held.
The two ministers also called for a political solution to the Iraq crisis within the United Nations.
Villepin expressed sympathy about the attack on a Russian diplomatic convoy in Iraq.
French President Jacques Chirac will pay a working visit to St. Petersburg on Friday and Saturday, according to the Kremlin press service.
It said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is also scheduled to visit Russia's northern capital on the same days.
Russia, France and Germany, the chief European opponents of the US-led war in Iraq, have repeatedly spoken against the military operation and called for further weapons inspection there.
Russia and France, both veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, had threatened to block any UN resolution which would authorize military action.
The upcoming meetings in St. Petersburg are likely to focus on the continuing fighting and post-war reconstruction in Iraq, Russian news agencies reported.
(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2003)
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