U.S., Russia diplomats meet

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Russian counterpart as the country's neighbors pressed the United Nations to stand up to Moscow.

Leaders of the countries that once were part of the Soviet bloc called on the United nations not to ignore Russia's behavior because it is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, The New York Times reported Thursday.

As they outlined concerns before the U.N. General Assembly, Rice met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, telling him Moscow "created grave difficulties for itself," a senior American official said after the sessions.

Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, who participated in the meetings, said "disagreements are very deep" on Russia's military incursion into neighboring Georgia in August.

Rice and Lavrov agreed on the need to maintain efforts to halt Iran's nuclear aspirations, the Times reported, despite not discussing another round of sanctions that the United States is considering and Russia opposes.

The two also discussed risks of North Korea's possibly restarting its nuclear program, Fried said.

During a meeting with European foreign ministers, Rice stressed the need "to work together so that Russia's attack on Georgia does not succeed in destroying Georgia's sovereignty and that Russia comes to realize sooner or later ... that attempts to change international borders through force is a grave mistake," Fried said..

Meanwhile, leaders of Ukraine, Poland and Latvia decried Russia's recent actions in speeches before the General Assembly.

"It is essential to turn down blackmailing and threatening vocabulary," Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko said.