Tension rises between Russia and US over Ukraine and the Iraqi elections

At a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Sofia on 6-7 December 2004, Russian Secretary of State Sergei Lavrov warned that OSCE election monitoring in Ukraine could become 'an instrument for political manipulation and a factor for destabilisation'. In Moscow, on 7 December 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with deep scepticism about the US-backed plan to hold elections in Iraq on 30 January 2005.