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American Morning

Russian Veto

Aired March 10, 2003 - 08:30   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: News out of Moscow this morning that the Russians probably will vote against the second resolution at the U.N., but in the copy I've been given, it says nothing about a veto, so let's go to Jill Dougherty, our Moscow bureau chief, who will provide better context for what Mr. Putin I guess is now saying.
Good morning, Jill.

What have you learned?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Paula, actually, it's coming from the Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who is the person who has really been carrying the ball for Russia in all of its statements. He said today, just a few minutes ago, in fact, number one, Russia hasn't heard any reason for using force against Iraq. Russia doesn't think there's any need for another resolution. And, finally, if this resolution, which he said has ultimatums that cannot be fulfilled, is put to a vote, then Russia will vote against it, and that is a very strong statement coming from Igor Ivanov.

President Putin, interestingly enough, has not, himself, said what Russia will do. He's a person who ultimately has the decision. But this is about as categorical -- as uncategorical as you can get, coming from the Igor Ivanov, the foreign minister -- Paula.

ZAHN: But there are some statements I'm told we can assign to President Putin. What did he tell his parliamentary leader? Is there some sort of message passed from the Russian government to Saddam Hussein?

DOUGHERTY: Yes, there's a lot happening, Paula. The latest on that front is that the speaker of the Russian parliament is now in Baghdad. He is supposed to be meeting with Saddam Hussein, and he says that he has a message from President Putin to Saddam Hussein. But, again, you'd have to note that so did Yevgeny Primakov who visited Baghdad just a couple of weeks ago, he also had a message, and it didn't seem to do any good. So this could be another message.

But the statement from Ivanov really I think is quite significant. Essentially what he's saying, the resolution, the way it is right now, he's saying is not going to be voted on by Russia; They will vote against it.

ZAHN: And no matter how you parse this diplomatic language, does that mean a veto?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I don't think that he actually used that very word, but it's pretty, pretty strong. And you know, it's really been kind of a shock to many people who have been watching this, because although recently, over the past few weeks, you've seen a really hardening of the position of Russia, there were a lot of people who were still saying, they still don't think they're going to do it. In fact, there was at least one report, a reporter from "Time" magazine, who was told by a Washington source, administration source, that Mr. Putin had assured President Bush that they would not use the veto.

So there have been a lot of contradictory statements coming from both sides, but ultimately of course, President Putin is going to have to be the one who will do this, and right now, you have Igor Ivanov saying no way in the way it's written right now.

ZAHN: Interesting in the way it's written right now in this piece of copy -- it has Mr. Ivanov saying if the second resolution is up to vote, almost like he's not terribly convinced the second resolution will get a vote. Lots for us to analyze this morning, Jill.

Carry on. No, you can continue.

DOUGHERTY: Well, I was just going to say, that would be their dream. Their dream would be that this would not come up for a vote, then they wouldn't have to make the tough choices. It would be a lot easier for Mr. Putin if he didn't have to make this decision.

ZAHN: That makes sense. Jill Dougherty, thanks so much for shedding some light on some very complicating reporting this morning. 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 March 10, 2003 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: News out of Moscow this morning that the Russians probably will vote against the second resolution at the U.N., but in the copy I've been given, it says nothing about a veto, so let's go to Jill Dougherty, our Moscow bureau chief, who will provide better context for what Mr. Putin I guess is now saying.
Good morning, Jill.

What have you learned?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Paula, actually, it's coming from the Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who is the person who has really been carrying the ball for Russia in all of its statements. He said today, just a few minutes ago, in fact, number one, Russia hasn't heard any reason for using force against Iraq. Russia doesn't think there's any need for another resolution. And, finally, if this resolution, which he said has ultimatums that cannot be fulfilled, is put to a vote, then Russia will vote against it, and that is a very strong statement coming from Igor Ivanov.

President Putin, interestingly enough, has not, himself, said what Russia will do. He's a person who ultimately has the decision. But this is about as categorical -- as uncategorical as you can get, coming from the Igor Ivanov, the foreign minister -- Paula.

ZAHN: But there are some statements I'm told we can assign to President Putin. What did he tell his parliamentary leader? Is there some sort of message passed from the Russian government to Saddam Hussein?

DOUGHERTY: Yes, there's a lot happening, Paula. The latest on that front is that the speaker of the Russian parliament is now in Baghdad. He is supposed to be meeting with Saddam Hussein, and he says that he has a message from President Putin to Saddam Hussein. But, again, you'd have to note that so did Yevgeny Primakov who visited Baghdad just a couple of weeks ago, he also had a message, and it didn't seem to do any good. So this could be another message.

But the statement from Ivanov really I think is quite significant. Essentially what he's saying, the resolution, the way it is right now, he's saying is not going to be voted on by Russia; They will vote against it.

ZAHN: And no matter how you parse this diplomatic language, does that mean a veto?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I don't think that he actually used that very word, but it's pretty, pretty strong. And you know, it's really been kind of a shock to many people who have been watching this, because although recently, over the past few weeks, you've seen a really hardening of the position of Russia, there were a lot of people who were still saying, they still don't think they're going to do it. In fact, there was at least one report, a reporter from "Time" magazine, who was told by a Washington source, administration source, that Mr. Putin had assured President Bush that they would not use the veto.

So there have been a lot of contradictory statements coming from both sides, but ultimately of course, President Putin is going to have to be the one who will do this, and right now, you have Igor Ivanov saying no way in the way it's written right now.

ZAHN: Interesting in the way it's written right now in this piece of copy -- it has Mr. Ivanov saying if the second resolution is up to vote, almost like he's not terribly convinced the second resolution will get a vote. Lots for us to analyze this morning, Jill.

Carry on. No, you can continue.

DOUGHERTY: Well, I was just going to say, that would be their dream. Their dream would be that this would not come up for a vote, then they wouldn't have to make the tough choices. It would be a lot easier for Mr. Putin if he didn't have to make this decision.

ZAHN: That makes sense. Jill Dougherty, thanks so much for shedding some light on some very complicating reporting this morning. 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