Adin shag vpered, dva shaga nazad.*

Feeling slighted that US citizens have been focusing most of their wrath on France lately, Russia has said it might use its veto to block action against Iraq in the name of "international stability."

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Russia could use its veto power to block military action.

"Russia has the right to a veto in the U.N. Security Council and will use it if it is necessary in the interests of international stability," Ivanov said at a news conference in Beijing.

And then again, maybe not.

A Russian lawmaker visiting Capitol Hill Wednesday said Ivanov's comments did not mean Moscow would object to a U.S.-backed resolution authorizing force.

Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian Parliament's upper house, defended the need to give weapons inspectors more time, but he said he doubted the Russian ambassador to the United Nations would use his veto.

"I don't think it," Margelov told the House International Relations Committee.

So what am I supposed to make out of this? Are they using the veto threat to extort something from the US, trying to impress France, or just being pissy? Dammit, I hate being a simplistic American cowgirl sometimes.

* - One step forward, two steps back.