This has been a very long planned visit. I went to Moscow about 15 months ago and the idea was that the visit would be dominated by a discussion of bilateral relations with some foreign policy issues. We did indeed start on bilateral issues, and I think it is fair to say that the bilateral relationship between the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom has never been better. That is reflected in many ways in terms of trade, culture, educational links, political positions, but it is perhaps best underlined by the fact that in June of this year His Excellency President Putin will be making the first official State Visit to the United Kingdom for a Russian Head of State since, Igor tells me, Nicholas I's visit here in 1844, and we are all looking forward very much to President Putin's visit, accompanied by Igor.

We went on to discuss issues of foreign policy which include Iraq and the Middle East peace process and we are meeting later on this evening for dinner where I am quite sure we will discuss some other key issues, including North Korea, Afghanistan and India, Pakistan. The Prime Minister was due to meet Igor this evening, but because of his own time pressures in Northern Ireland, that meeting has now been postponed until tomorrow morning when Igor will be meeting our Prime Minister.

Let me just say this about Iraq. I gave detailed evidence about our position in respect of Iraq to the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this afternoon and I have no need to repeat that here. The United Kingdom and the Russian Federation share the same objective in respect of Iraq, which is Iraq's disarmament of its weapons of mass destruction. We worked very closely together, and co-operatively together, during an intense period of negotiation leading to 1441 on 8 November. There are some outstanding questions about how we achieve this overall objective, but I believe that if we maintain as intensive a dialogue of the kind that we have been having, then it may be possible to resolve those outstanding questions in a satisfactory manner.

Lastly, let me talk about the Middle East peace process. We share a very similar analysis and set of objectives and means to achieve those objectives as far as the dreadful situation between Israel and the Palestinians is concerned. The Russian Federation is a participant in its own right in the quartet. We participate through our membership of the European Union and the United States Security Council. I expressed my gratitude to Igor for the participation of Andre Flodovin (phon), the Russian Federation Middle East expert, Igor's expert, in the meetings on Palestinian reform, which I hosted here in London in January and February, and we both want to see the publication of the road map, and then it properly implemented.

Thank you very much.

MR IGOR IVANOV: Ladies and Gentlemen, first of all I would like to express my gratitude to Secretary Straw, a friend of mine, for the invitation to come here and for a very hospitable reception. Indeed we agreed a long time ago to make this visit and I am very happy that we managed to do it in practice. And I would like to stress nevertheless that we have talked to each other not only during direct contact, we do meet frequently, but we also contact each other through the phone, through mail and we have a good constructive dialogue with each other. And I think that this dialogue is another confirmation to this high level of cooperation that exists now in the relations between Russia and Great Britain. And these relations received a strong impetus in recent years, primarily thanks to the good and active dialogue and relationship between Prime Minister Blair and President Putin. And we are grateful for the British leadership, and in particular to Prime Minister Blair, for active participation and assistance in establishing a new quality of relations between Russia and the European Union and Russia and NATO. All that demonstrates the new nature of our relations which are characterised by raising trust, by mutual recognition of interest and mutual respect. And that is why we are confident that the forthcoming visit to Great Britain by President Putin, scheduled for June of this year, will become another serious step forward in developing our relations.

Russia and Great Britain are Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council and have a special responsibility for maintaining international peace and stability, and we maintain a permanent dialogue on all the major international problems. Today naturally it is the issue of Iraq, and today we exchanged opinions in detail about the current state of affairs around Iraq. As Secretary Straw just mentioned, we share common goals. We stand for full implementation of all the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions which envisage the destruction of mass destruction weapons in Iraq and means of its delivery. We worked constructively together on the 1441 Resolution and we are determined to have this resolution implemented, and we are confident that the international community can succeed in doing that through unity, through maintaining the unity of the international community, but what is more important through maintaining the unity of the United Nations Security Council members. It is well known that there may be different views on how this common goal that we are seeking, that we are trying to achieve, can be achieved. It is natural because none of us has prepared recipes, and we continue our constructive dialogue on this issue.

I guess some of you may ask me a question today, if Russia is going to use its veto. Right. I can tell you frankly that we actually never discussed this issue today. When it comes to the vote, each state is entitled to make a decision on its own. But today we discussed the Iraqi issue in the light of how to not only resolve this particular issue, but how to strengthen our interaction in other, not less complicated, international issues like fighting international terrorism and other threats and challenges. Anyway Russia proceeds from the premise that the way of resolving the Iraqi issue should not split the international community, but should rather continue to the efforts undertaken by the international community in fighting new threats and challenges.

We exchanged opinions on the situation in the Middle East, which is another concern of ours. Thanks to the thorough and careful work within the quartet, we were able to agree upon the compromise version of the so-called road map. This road map takes into account the opinion of the entire international public opinion and we believe that it should be approved as soon as possible and implemented in practice. We will continue our discussions on other pressing international problems.

And in conclusion I would like to stress that I am grateful to Secretary Straw for a very frank and benevolent exchange of opinions and that is the way that true partners should discuss difficult problems, partners like us.

QUESTION: Foreign Secretary, how confident are you after your talks today that the Russians can be brought on side in terms of at least abstaining on your resolution at the Security Council?

MR STRAW: As Igor explained, we didn't get down to discussing votes on this, or votes on that, what we were discussing was an overall strategy in respect of Iraq. We are all committed to 1441 and 1441 sets out a very clear obligation upon Saddam Hussein for active, immediate and full disarmament, and that is the basis on which we are working.

QUESTION: Mr Ivanov, how are the preparations for the State Visit developing; and the second question, do you intend to take part in the forthcoming United Nations Security Council meeting?

MR IVANOV: We are actively preparing ourselves for the State Visit to be made by President Putin to Great Britain and it is one of the big issues that we are discussing with Secretary Straw. Though we have several months ahead of us, we are preparing already quite a big pile of documents that would reflect the current status of our relations. As for the forthcoming United Nations Security Council meeting to be held on 7 March, and where a report by Mr Blix and Mr al Baradei will be voiced, the format at a level of participation in that meeting has not been determined yet.

QUESTION: I would just like to ask the Russian Foreign Minister. You told the BBC earlier today that you would not agree to anything that would actually directly or indirectly make war more likely. Did you not convey this to Mr Straw? And Mr Straw, how prepared are you to go ahead and ignore the views of the Russians if that is the case?

MR IVANOV: I think that I said nothing new. It is our position that we have been standing by for a long time and we have been putting it forward for quite a long time. We assume that now we have a real possibility for a political solution of the issue of Iraq's disarmament and we should make use of this change. But we are careful in listening to our partners who have different opinions.

MR STRAW: That is really the answer that I would give you, that we are involved in a process of intense discussion.

QUESTION: My question goes to both Ministers. Did you raise during your discussion the possible extradition of Hamed Zakaev (phon) to Russia, and what is your attitude to speculation in some media that this issue is linked by Russia to the issue of its position in the Iraqi settlement?

MR IVANOV: We did not raise this issue, it is within the competence of the relevant agencies of our countries, and there are close contacts which exist between our Interior Ministries and the Prosecutor Generals' Offices. Any speculations about the possible linking of this issue with the Iraqi issues are groundless, it is not the case. We respect our British colleagues, we respect the judicial system of Britain and we are not going to interfere in the process or to exert any kind of political pressure.

MR STRAW: Just to say that those here will remember when I was dealing with a rather high profile extradition matter four years ago, I can't, and I am not going to comment on an extradition matter while it is before the courts. I simply underline what Igor has said about the general level of cooperation between our two countries in respect of fighting terrorism.

QUESTION: Mr Ivanov, do you agree with the stated British position that Resolution 1441 authorises the use of force against Iraq if Iraq is found in breach? And having said how warm relations are between Britain and Russia, would they still be as warm if there is a war without a second resolution?

MR IVANOV: As regards the 1441 resolution, after it was adopted we made it clear, interpreted the statement saying that it does not contain any provisions authorising automatic use of force. If Iraq is in serious and material breach of the provisions of the resolution then this issue should go back to the Security Council and the Security Council should decide on which measures should be taken with regard to Iraq. As for relations between Russia and Britain, I have already said that our relations develop very dynamically in all areas. Indeed we are building a true partnership of relations, future oriented relations, and these kinds of relations enable us to discuss issues where we may have disagreements, it is a normal phenomenon. The fundamental thing is that we share common goals, both on the issue of Iraq and on the issue of strengthening international stability and security. And we would very much like the Iraqi problem not to push back our relations. On the contrary, difficult issues usually contribute to the strengthening of trust and to the developing of relations and we hope that this will be the case.

QUESTION: My question is for Mr Ivanov. I wanted to find out, although you said that you did not discuss the second Security resolution today, I did want to find out, you said earlier essentially that to abstain is not a position, indicating that Russia will not likely abstain. If that is the case, what is your position and how prepared are you to veto?

MR IVANOV: You know I think Secretary Straw remembers the moment when we were in the process of discussion of 1441 resolution, there was a moment when we could have adopted, but certain states would have abstained. But we did our best to find such wording that would enable us to pass the resolution unanimously. There are certain issues when it is desirable that there will be no abstainees among the Security Council Permanent Members, because those are serious issues, because we as Permanent Members of the Security Council carry a special responsibility in maintaining international peace and stability. And that is why I said that the Iraqi issue is precisely the one where it is unlikely that one of us would abstain.