"Regime change in Baghdad is not a condition for lifting economic sanctions on Iraq," the official told the Interfax news agency on condition of anonymity.

"There is a UN Security Council resolution for this, which clearly stipulates the disarmament of Iraq -- something international inspectors must decide," he said.

US President George W. Bush said Wednesday he would soon propose a UN resolution ending the 12-year-old crippling economic sanctions, which put an embargo on the trade of Iraqi oil.

Russia -- a fierce opponent to the US-led war that earlier cast doubt on US accusations that Iraq possessed biological, chemical or nuclear weapons -- fears opening the floodgates of Iraqi oil could hurt its own economy, which is heavily reliant on oil exports.

It has called for the United Nations to play a central role in the reconstruction of post-war Iraq, also fearing lucrative contracts could end up in the hands of the US-led coalition that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"Russia supports bringing inspectors back to Iraq to fufill their duty of shedding light on whether Iraq does or does not have weapons of mass destruction," the Russian official said.

The United Nations imposed sweeping sanctions on Iraq after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990. They included a ban on all trade with Iraq, an embargo on its oil exports and an arms embargo.

Bush also called on the United Nations to end the UN-administered "oil-for-food" program, which since 1996 has enabled Iraq to export limited amounts of oil and use the revenues to buy basic humanitarian supplies.

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