Official foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told Interfax that "it must be clear if Iraq has weapons of mass destruction before sanctions are lifted.

"This question can only be answered by inspectors authorized by the UN Security Council."

He added that a UN resolution lifting the economic sanctions can only be adopted after the final inspectors' report.

The council is expected to examine the possibility of inspectors returning to Iraq during a Tuesday session in New York.

US President George W. Bush said last week he would soon propose a UN resolution ending the economic sanctions that put an embargo on the trade of Iraqi oil.

Russia has been a fierce opponent of the US-British invasion of Iraq and cast doubt on the accusations that Baghdad was developing biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

Moscow, which wants the United Nations to oversee the rebuilding of Iraq, fears that lucrative reconstruction and oil contracts in Iraq could be allocated almost exclusively to the US-led coalition.

Russia also is concerned that allowing Iraq to trade its substantial oil resources freely on the world market could damage Russia's own economy, which is heavily reliant on oil exports.

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