MOSCOW, March 22 (UPI) -- Members of the pro-Putin "Walking Together" youth movement staged an unusual rally in Moscow Saturday to protest the U.S. invasion in Iraq. The demonstrators brought 1,000 oil cans to the residence of U.S. envoy Alexander Vershbow as part of their campaign dubbed "Oil in Exchange for Peace."
"We by all means don't want the Americans to freeze in their homes and the streets of New York to clog with cars with empty gasoline tanks," the movement said in a press release published on the eve of demonstration.
"However, we also don't want the well-being of one nation to be paid for by the lives of innocent civilians whose only fault is that they were born right next to oil wells," the statement added.
In order to resolve the situation, the organization suggested an "alternative" that would suit all parties -- it would bring oil to the doorstep of the U.S. envoy as a token of readiness to seek a peaceful solution to the Iraqi conflict.
On Saturday, hundreds of people turned up at Vershbow's residence -- the so-called Spaso House, located only a hundred yards from one of Russia's main downtown thoroughfares, Novy Arbat.
Demonstrators unloaded a truck full of oil cans and placed them around the residence, virtually encircling the building as security guards and police formed a cordon to prevent any incidents.
Organizers underlined that the oil was supplied "free of charge" and said they hoped the move would urge the U.S. government to enter negotiations to discuss an oil-for-peace arrangement would help stop the war in Iraq.
The demonstration went on peacefully, but only a mile away a display of anti-American sentiments was much stronger as hundreds of Russian ultranationalists and communists attempted to picket the building of the U.S. Embassy.
They failed to approach the building as scores of security officers and policemen kept them at bay.
Protesters yelled anti-U.S. slogans and waved banners saying "Hands Off Iraq" and "No to War in Iraq and Korea."
A group of protesters brought a pig's head with an Uncle Sam's hat perched on top of it and tried to hand it over to embassy officials, but were turned away by police. As they retreated, the demonstrators left the head lying in the street in front of the embassy building.
Russia's NTV television network quoted several U.S. citizens living in Moscow as saying they were afraid to tell their business partners and other Russian acquaintances they backed the U.S. military action in Iraq for fear of damaging their business ties or even getting beaten up. Instead, they chose to keep a low profile, taking a neutral stance, NTV reported.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities continued Saturday to press for a peaceful solution of the conflict.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Moscow would not expel Iraqi envoys, notably Ambassador Abbas Khalaf in response to U.S. calls to more than 60 nations worldwide to send home Iraqi diplomats suspected of espionage.
"The Iraqi ambassador is officially accredited in Moscow and will continue his work," said Ivanov.
Khalaf spoke to reporters Saturday announcing that Iraq had fully suspended shipments of oil under the U.N.-administered "Oil for Food" program, as the plunge of the price of oil continued, hitting Friday a four-month low at $26.91 a barrel on the New York Stock Exchange.
Ivanov Saturday also slammed Turkey's decision to deploy troops in northern Iraq.
"We condemn the war in any form... there should be a political settlement [of the conflict], not deployment of troops which means that the situation will only be complicated further," he added.
Ivanov said Russia would continue to oppose attempts to legitimize the military action of the United States and Britain against Iraq in the Security Council.
"We will be following this situation attentively and will not endorse its legitimacy," the minister said.
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry continued Saturday shipping humanitarian aid and equipment to Iran to help set up refugee camps for the Iraqis fleeing the fighting.
A second Il-76 cargo carrier landed at noon Moscow time Saturday at an airfield near Kermanshah, Iran, bringing tons of food supplies, construction materials, tents, diesel power generators and water purification units.
On Sunday, two more cargo planes are expected to land at Kermanshah, bringing more aid and supplies.
