Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Moscow would veto the US-UK sponsored draft resolution in the UN Security Council allowing a military offensive against Iraq.

Talking to reporters in Tehran, he said, "Russia is very much against this resolution, we will vote against it."

"We invite the USA to opt for a political solution, and this is possible," he said adding a war would have adverse consequences for the whole region.

He also expressed Russian opposition to US efforts to effect regime change in Baghdad saying no United Nations resolution has sought removal of Saddam Hussein.

Ivanov has called up his Pakistani, Chilean and Mexican counterparts to persuade them against voting for the US-UK sponsored draft of the UNSC resolution, the foreign ministry said in Moscow.

Pakistan, Chile and Mexico are non-permanent members of UNSC and their votes are crucial for Washington and London to muster sufficient backing for the authorisation of a military operation against Iraq.

Earlier, Moscow has cautioned that any military strike on Iraq would destabilise the situation from ‘Pakistan to Palestine'.