U.S. pressures Russia over arms sales to Iraq
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In a phone call President Bush asked Russian President Putin to stop Russian arms sales to Iraq
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States on Monday continued to pressure Moscow to rein in two Russian companies it accuses of supplying military equipment to Saddam Hussein.
President Bush expressed concern to Russian President Vladimir Putin about reports that Russian companies had sold military equipment and electronics to Iraq recently, in violation of U.N. sanctions.
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters earlier Monday that a Russian company was providing "ongoing cooperation and support to Iraqi forces," including selling night goggles and other equipment to Baghdad that can jam satellite navigational systems used by U.S. precision-guided weapons.
The Washington Post identified two of the companies as Aviaconversiya, which allegedly supplied jamming equipment, and KBP Tula, an optics company.
Aviaconversiya, according to the company's Web site, produces jamming equipment which can suppress radio signals from global positioning systems. The U.S. military uses such systems in its planes and bombs.
A high-ranking Russian official Monday said allegations by the United States that Russia is involved in illegal shipments of military equipment to Iraq are "completely baseless."
"There were absolutely no violations of the arms embargo," the official said, adding that "on numerous occasions Moscow gave a detailed account of all of this to the American government starting with October of last year."
Powell: Issue goes back months
The heads of two accused Russian companies have denied any involvement and at a Pentagon briefing Monday Maj Gen. Stanley McChrystal said that the equipment hadn't had an impact on coalition forces in Iraq.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview with Fox News that U.S. officials have expressed their concerns to their Russian counterparts "over a period of many months."
Powell said he had called Igor Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister, earlier in the day and was told the Russian could find no evidence that such sales were occurring.
"Ivanov assured me that, with enough information, the right information, they would do something about it. But, frankly, we believe we have given them more than enough information, so that they should have been able to find out the truth of it."
Powell added, "I must say that, so far, I'm disappointed at the response."
