Word: villepin
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2003-2003
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...were tough. The French were determined that if Iraq was found to be in breach, the Security Council should meet again before going to war. On Nov. 2, as he was waiting to escort his daughter down the aisle at her wedding, Powell received a call from Dominique de Villepin, the French Foreign Minister, and the two men settled on the outlines of a compromise. Six days later, the Security Council voted unanimously in favor of Resolution 1441. The mood at State was ebullient; the Security Council, said a senior official, had "found Iraq guilty and offered it a probation...
...days later, on Martin Luther King Day, Powell--at de Villepin's request--attended a Security Council session that was to debate terrorism. The meeting was relatively uneventful, though Joschka Fischer, Germany's Foreign Minister, said a military strike against Iraq would make fighting terrorism more difficult. But at the press conference afterward, de Villepin dropped his bomb. France, he said, thought that "nothing justifies envisaging military action." It was the plainest signal possible that so long as the inspectors were getting cooperation from Saddam, Paris would not support...
...claimed that the inspectors are ignoring tips from U.S. intelligence and capitulating to Iraqi intimidation. Inspectors vehemently deny the charges. But Powell's Russian and French counterparts hailed the reports of progress and repeated their threats to block passage of the Anglo-American resolution. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin rejected the idea that the British amendment amounted to a compromise, saying, "We would not accept a resolution that will lead...
...Villepin's statements, which were echoed by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, may have been just as significant for the four-letter word they pointedly avoided: veto. France and Russia could veto the second resolution if Washington strong-arms enough yes votes out of the six countries sitting on the fence, but the U.S. believes France and Russia can be stared down. Russia, in particular, is under intense U.S. pressure to keep its veto in its pocket. U.S. diplomats are trying to peel Russia away and isolate Paris, daring the French to veto the U.S. resolution on their...
...anyone could remember, unprecedented. Last Friday morning, as Dominique de Villepin, the French Foreign Minister, finished his remarks before the United Nations Security Council, the galleries burst into spontaneous applause. De Villepin had said what most of those in the audience wanted to hear, that "war is always the sanction of failure" and that the use of force against Iraq "is not justified at this time." France, de Villepin said, "believes in our ability to build a better world together...