The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Moscow does not plan to send observers to monitor the upcoming elections in Iraq because of the security situation there.

"There are no conditions for Russian observers to take part in the general elections scheduled for January 30 in Iraq, where elementary security for foreign citizens cannot be ensured," the ministry said in a statement.

Russia also does not intend to observe the elections from the relative safety of Iraq's neighboring countries because this wouldnot produce an "objective assessment," the statement added.

Russia has been strongly opposed to the US-led war in Iraq and has repeatedly expressed concerns over the security situation there. Enditem