MOSCOW -- Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan are agreed on the need to find a political solution to the problem of Iraq, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday in a communique.

In a telephone conversation Friday they agreed "on the need to pursue the search for a political solution to the Iraqi problem in line with the UN Security Council's resolutions," the communique said, in implicit criticism of Washington's threats of military strikes against Baghdad.

President George W. Bush has sworn to overturn the regime of Saddam Hussein whom he accuses of developing biological, chemical and nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

Russia and US allies, notably Germany, have expressed their opposition to any military intervention in Iraq.

Ivanov and Annan also discussed the Middle East, reiterating their support for the organization of an international conference between the Palestinians and Israelis under the mediation of Russia, the United States, the UN and European Union, AFP reported.