Anti-US troika on Iraq is dead: Russian media

Putin's address in New York Thursday, in which he pointedly refrained from direct criticism of the US-led campaign to oust president Saddam Hussein, "has shown that the troika of opponents to the war in Iraq is definitively in ruins," the liberal daily Gazeta wrote.

Putin "avoided commenting on American actions in Iraq," the paper noted, adding that his former allies in Berlin and Paris had failed to convince him to take a "more demanding stand."

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German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has also adopted a "more moderate tone and shown a warmer approach" in his talks with US President George W. Bush, it said, noting that French President Jacques Chirac remains "the only intransigent party."

For the business daily Kommersant, the meetings in New York mark "important changes in US relations with its main opponents over Iraq."

Moscow, the paper commented in an editorial, has always been at pains not to endanger its good relations with the United States, and Washington "has made it clear that the differences (over Iraq) are a thing of the past."

Henceforth "there is only France remaining in opposition to the United States," it said.

The other main business daily, Vedomosti, highlighted the very "diplomatic" stance taken by Putin, noting that he had backed "neither Bush nor Chirac" while at the same time avoiding giving offence to either.

Putin's UN address argued for a strong United Nations role in Iraq, in line with European demands, while steering clear of demands -- voiced most strongly by France -- that the US-led occupation forces set a date for handing over power.