Following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq quickly sank into sectarian violence from which it has yet to emerge.
All ongoing international efforts to restore peace and stability there have so far proved futile, and Russia, which has always opposed the war in Iraq, has repeatedly called on the international community to withdraw foreign troops from the country.
"I don't believe anyone would support the immediate withdrawal of international forces under current conditions," Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel. "A sudden withdrawal or a stampede could entail catastrophic consequences, but it is also unacceptable to maintain a military presence there forever."
The minister said the timetable for the withdrawal of forces should be measured and gradual, while responsibility for security in the country should be simultaneously handed over to the Iraqis. He added that in order to do so, the Iraqi police, law enforcement bodies and the Army had to be reinforced.
"We proposed that a year ago, when another resolution prolonged a mandate on the presence of multinational forces in Iraq," the minister said. "We were convinced that a timetable for withdrawal was necessary, which would show Iraqis that it [the presence] would not be forever and that the country belonged to them."
Addressing the troubled situation in Iraq at an informal session of Russia-NATO Council in Spain Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that leading Middle East countries should also participate in the resolution of the issue.
"We can not exclude a number of leading countries in the Middle East from the process of Iraqi settlement that can really influence the process and are ready to take part in the conflict settlement," Ivanov, who is also a deputy prime minister, said.
The minister said he had in mind such countries as Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt.
