Battle over, anti-war trio waves olive branch to US

The leaders made their point partly by choice of venue: they appeared together to open a seminar ‘‘Peace, Security and International Law : Insight into the Future,’’ in St Petersburg after the summit.

Chirac told the gathering that the trio has been motivated by concern for how power is organized in the world, not by any desire to see Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s government survive.

Putin said that one of the issues on which the three countries have the commonality of views is to ‘‘recognize the central role of the UN’’ in the post-war Iraq. He also called for the urgent reform of the UN within the aegis of international law, to address the needs of global geo-political situation.

Chirac, at the seminar, also stressed an upbeat view of future cooperation with Washington despite current strains over Iraq: ‘‘We can rebuild our unity around the values that all great democracies share. This spirit of solidarity and collective responsibility should emerge strengthened from this crisis.’’

The legitimacy of new political and economic institutions in Iraq can only be ensured through the UN and adherence to international law, Schroeder said.

Putin hinted that Russia was ready to cooperate with the US-led coalition, saying Moscow would consider forgiving Iraqi debts to Russia.