Putin expressed his stance on the program after meeting visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who arrived in Moscow in mid-afternoon on a brief working visit.

Putin stressed that the UN role must be guaranteed at all stages and the transfer of power to the Iraqi people must not be delayed.

A settlement without UN participation "is unlikely to prove effective, fair or lasting," the president told a press conference.

After the Saddam regime was toppled, the United States urged a termination of the program, which is at the heart of economic sanctions on Iraq.

The United States, which led the war against Iraq, without a UN mandate, on claims that Iraq refused to destroy weapons of mass destruction, wants the sanctions to be lifted entirely, arguing the reasons for imposing them have now disappeared.

But there has been little support in the 15-member Security Council as UN resolutions tie the lifting of the sanctions to international verification that Iraq has no more weapons of mass destruction.

The UN Security Council on April 24 extended Secretary-General Kofi Annan's authority to run the program, for another three weeks, until June 3.

The program, which uses Iraqi oil revenues to purchase emergency food and medicine for Iraqis, was temporarily halted on March 17 after the withdrawal of all UN staff from Iraq on the eve of the war.

The council revised the program on March 28 giving Annan more authority to administer the operation for the next 45 days, including prioritizing deliveries and finding new entry ports to speed their shipment.

About 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people depend on the program for all of their food needs.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2003)