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CNN Live At Daybreak

Reaction From Russia, France

Aired October 02, 2002 - 06:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Two nations that could play major roles in the passage or rejection of any United Nations resolution are Russia and France.
CNN's Jim Bittermann is tracking the story from Paris. We'll get the latest from there in just a minute.

But first, we want to check in with CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty to check on the mood there.

What's the mood?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, the Russians say that they are happy -- happy that the U.N. and Iraq have reached agreement on those inspections. They say they are glad that Iraq says that the existing resolutions -- and that's important to point out -- existing resolutions will be carried out.

And essentially, it boils down to two things that the Russians are saying. They want the inspectors to go back under those existing resolutions as soon as possible. And they say, that will prove definitively one way or the other whether Iraq actually does have weapons of mass destruction.

Now, they are not saying it directly, but this does put them at odds with the United States' position, which is, it wants a stronger, new resolution that would force Iraq to do more than it is saying it will do now.

Again, the Russians are not saying a lot of this directly. They never have said, for example, we don't agree with the Americans. However -- and also, if you listen to President Putin, he has been really saying very, very little about this subject.

So, Carol, the real question ultimately will be: If this new American resolution eventually makes its way into the Security Council, what would Russia do?

There are some who say that it might actually veto the resolution, but there are others who believe that it might actually just stand aside and abstain and let things go forward without making a stand that would jeopardize its relationship with the United States.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

DOUGHERTY: That's all conjecture, but that's what they are saying. COSTELLO: Yes. So, it may not vote at all and totally remove itself.

DOUGHERTY: It's possible. Of course, they have three things that they could do: vote for it, abstain or vote against it.

COSTELLO: OK.

DOUGHERTY: And abstaining would solve several problems.

COSTELLO: Yes, it would. Thank you, Jill Dougherty.

We want to get reaction now from France, and for that, we turn to CNN's Jim Bittermann, who is live in Paris.

What's up there -- Jim?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the French have been pretty consistent now for almost a month about what their position is.

Basically, they, also -- like the United States -- favor a new resolution in the U.N. Security Council, a resolution that would toughen the inspection regime. But they want to de-link the idea that military action would be automatic.

About the clearest statement we have had on that came from Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister. Earlier this week in the well-known newspaper, "Le Monde," de Villepin said that basically they didn't want to give the United States a blank check for military action. Apparently wishing to get some kind of evaluation of whether the inspectors have been successful, whether they have been allowed free and unfettered access to the various military sites before any kind of military action is taken.

Another thing that de Villepin said that's interesting and worth noting, and that is that any suggestion or hint that the goal of military action is regime change is something the French would definitely oppose. That, they say, would be against international law.

However, if there was a U.N. resolution that said that the U.N. weapons inspectors had been thwarted in their work, then the French have agreed and have made it known publicly that they would support with military action, with their own troops, any kind of military attack against Iraq -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jim Bittermann reporting live from Paris -- we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired October 2, 2002 - 06:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Two nations that could play major roles in the passage or rejection of any United Nations resolution are Russia and France.
CNN's Jim Bittermann is tracking the story from Paris. We'll get the latest from there in just a minute.

But first, we want to check in with CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty to check on the mood there.

What's the mood?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, the Russians say that they are happy -- happy that the U.N. and Iraq have reached agreement on those inspections. They say they are glad that Iraq says that the existing resolutions -- and that's important to point out -- existing resolutions will be carried out.

And essentially, it boils down to two things that the Russians are saying. They want the inspectors to go back under those existing resolutions as soon as possible. And they say, that will prove definitively one way or the other whether Iraq actually does have weapons of mass destruction.

Now, they are not saying it directly, but this does put them at odds with the United States' position, which is, it wants a stronger, new resolution that would force Iraq to do more than it is saying it will do now.

Again, the Russians are not saying a lot of this directly. They never have said, for example, we don't agree with the Americans. However -- and also, if you listen to President Putin, he has been really saying very, very little about this subject.

So, Carol, the real question ultimately will be: If this new American resolution eventually makes its way into the Security Council, what would Russia do?

There are some who say that it might actually veto the resolution, but there are others who believe that it might actually just stand aside and abstain and let things go forward without making a stand that would jeopardize its relationship with the United States.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

DOUGHERTY: That's all conjecture, but that's what they are saying. COSTELLO: Yes. So, it may not vote at all and totally remove itself.

DOUGHERTY: It's possible. Of course, they have three things that they could do: vote for it, abstain or vote against it.

COSTELLO: OK.

DOUGHERTY: And abstaining would solve several problems.

COSTELLO: Yes, it would. Thank you, Jill Dougherty.

We want to get reaction now from France, and for that, we turn to CNN's Jim Bittermann, who is live in Paris.

What's up there -- Jim?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the French have been pretty consistent now for almost a month about what their position is.

Basically, they, also -- like the United States -- favor a new resolution in the U.N. Security Council, a resolution that would toughen the inspection regime. But they want to de-link the idea that military action would be automatic.

About the clearest statement we have had on that came from Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister. Earlier this week in the well-known newspaper, "Le Monde," de Villepin said that basically they didn't want to give the United States a blank check for military action. Apparently wishing to get some kind of evaluation of whether the inspectors have been successful, whether they have been allowed free and unfettered access to the various military sites before any kind of military action is taken.

Another thing that de Villepin said that's interesting and worth noting, and that is that any suggestion or hint that the goal of military action is regime change is something the French would definitely oppose. That, they say, would be against international law.

However, if there was a U.N. resolution that said that the U.N. weapons inspectors had been thwarted in their work, then the French have agreed and have made it known publicly that they would support with military action, with their own troops, any kind of military attack against Iraq -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jim Bittermann reporting live from Paris -- we appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.