U.S. official: Russia boycotts key U.N. meeting on Iran

September 23, 2008
CNN
Original Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/23/us.russia/index.html

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A key meeting of world powers to discuss a fourth U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran is unlikely because of a Russian boycott, according to a top U.S. official. 
At this stage we are still trying to create the basis for a ministerial meeting and it is not clear that is going to happen, the official told reporters outside the annual U.N. General Assembly, which gathers leaders from around the world.
We thought it was useful when you have all the ministers in New York to take advantage of that opportunity, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under normal diplomatic rules. The signal the Russians are sending is that they don't think the time is right for a ministerial.
The official said both the Russians and Chinese are not prepared to engage actively on another resolution imposing sanctions against Iran.
The Russian decision to boycott the meeting comes on the heels of a blistering speech last week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in which she warned Russia risks becoming isolated and irrelevant due to its behavior in Georgia and other authoritarian policies.
To restate the blindly obvious, we are in a rocky period with the Russians ... and that is affecting other areas as well, the official said. I have no illusions that period is going to end soon.
The official added that clearly there is spill-over of the difficulty created by the Georgian crisis.
We have profound problems with Russia's behavior in the Georgian crisis, the official said, adding that the United States is not going to pull any punches on the issue.
But he added that there are a number of areas where it really does matter that the United States can cooperate with Russia, citing both countries' nuclear arsenals along with issues relating to Iran, North Korea.
The official said he believes over time the United States and Russia will find a way to continue cooperate on those issues.
In the meantime, the political directors of the P5 plus one -- the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia) will continue to discuss their two-track strategy of offering Iran incentives if it suspends its nuclear program and continuing sanctions if it doesn't.
He said Russia and China don't share the same urgency as the United States and its European partners do on Iran's nuclear program. The United States feels a great sense of urgency because Iran is increasing the number of its centrifuges and is technically advancing its nuclear technology, he said.
Also six former Russian and U.S. ambassadors are warning that without urgent attention relations between the nations could deteriorate into a protracted period of confrontation and counterproductive activity.
Tuesday the group released a strongly-worded statement after two days of discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. The former ambassadors are calling for both countries to take action to avoid the repetition of past mistakes.
We further believe that recent events call for reflection and restraint by all sides, the statement said. We believe that we are entering a period when new leadership in Moscow and Washington will face decisions that will reshape the U.S.-Russia agenda.