The three European powers, which fiercely opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq without UN approval, are pushing for the United Nations to oversee the transition to a post-Saddam administration, an idea viewed coldly in Washington.

"Moscow and Berlin believe the main task is to urgently return the Iraqi settlement process to within the framework of the United Nations," Putin said after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Saint Petersburg.

"Our countries must do everything to preserve the stability of the system of international law, which is based on the supremacy of the United Nations," Putin said during a bilateral meeting in Russia's second city.

Schroeder hammered home the same message, saying: "You have to respect the UN Charter in all situations."

The Russian president was then to meet his French counterpart Jacques Chirac before a trilateral summit begins late Friday, continuing on Saturday. A press conference was expected late Friday.

In Putin's first public response to the dramatic US military gains in Iraq, a traditional Russian ally, he said he welcomed the fall of Saddam's regime but insisted it had been wrong to bring him down by force.

"It is good that the Saddam Hussein regime has fallen. We said for a long time he had to be brought down. We did not defend him, we said it should not be done by force," the Russian leader said.

Under Washington's plans, retired US general Jay Garner is expected to run Iraq's postwar interim administration.

After an initial phase that is expected to last at least six months, he would turn over the country's administration to an interim Iraqi authority made up of a broad spectrum of Iraqi political groups.

US President George W. Bush appears to be leaning toward the position of the hawks in his administration, such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who only want the United Nations to help provide humanitarian aid.

But a top Russian lawmaker close to Putin told AFP that the United States and its key ally Britain needed international support to secure peace in Iraq.

"The return of the Iraqi question to the United Nations is not only in the interests of Russia, France and Germany. The United States also needs a success story. Just two can win the war, but not the peace," said Mikhail Margelov, head of the senate foreign affairs committee.

"To organise elections, you need international legimitacy," he added.

But in a blow to the summit, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan cancelled his attendance earlier in the week.

And British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is known to favour a stronger UN role in Iraq, also turned down an invitation from Putin to attend the gathering, Downing Street said.

The talks come after Moscow was dealt a blow by one of Washington's top military hawks on Thursday, who suggested that Russia should now forget about ever winning back its debts from Iraq.

"I hope for example they'll think about the very large debts that come from money that was lent to Saddam Hussein to buy weapons," and then write off those debts in a gesture to help Iraq rebuild, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told Congress.

Moscow appeared to be stunned by the statement.

It had fought a furious diplomatic campaign against the war in a bid to preserve Russian companies' rights to lucrative oil contracts and safeguard Baghdad's Soviet-era debt.

The debt stands at around eight billion dollars (7.4 billion euros) and has grown to some 16 billion dollars (15 billion euros), if interest payments are included.

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