RUSSIA - March 4 - Ivanov Warns Against Imposing Iraq Regime Change.

In exclusive comments to The FT, FM Igor Ivanov warns the US and UK against planning regime change in Iraq saying: "We are concerned about plans to impose democratic values upon entire peoples by force... The Soviet Union had its own deplorable record of imposing regimes of its liking and we all know the results... The forced 'export of democracy' is likely to meet the same fate as the 'export of revolution'. Unfortunately, experiments of this kind bear very high costs, especially for those peoples on which they are conducted". (Ivanov is speaking during his visit to London, where he met British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to discuss the Iraq crisis). He says attempts to impose political systems on Arab states will "play into the hands of extremists acting under radical Islamic slogans". He repeats earlier hints that Moscow will be ready to use its UN Security Council veto to stop any new resolution authorising the use of force against Baghdad. He says the Kremlin would block any resolution that would "directly or indirectly" justify the use of force. But Ivanov tempers his tough line with conciliatory remarks emphasising that all UN Security Council members share the same aim of disarming Iraq and having reliable guarantees that it will never again possess weapons of mass destruction. On March 5, Ivanov said Moscow would not support any measure leading to a war on Iraq and that it might use its veto. He said: "If the situation so demands, Russia will of course use its right of veto - as an extreme measure. Russia would not support any decision that would directly or indirectly lead to a war with Iraq. Russia, will not abstain. It will take a particular position".