MOSCOW (AP) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell told Russia's state-controlled television that the United States was prepared to lead a war against Iraq with or without the consent of the United Nations.

The comments came as Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair met with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on Wednesday. Blair is seeking to prevent Moscow from blocking a U.N. resolution authorizing war with Iraq.

Powell's interview, excerpts of which aired on one of Russia's most widely watched news programs late Tuesday, appeared to be part of a U.S. attempt to get its message straight to the Russian public as a possible vote on a new U.N. Security Council resolution nears.

The United States and Britain are pushing a resolution that would open the way to military action, while Russia has joined France and Germany in insisting that weapons inspectors be given more time to complete their work.

According to a State Department transcript of the interview on ORT television, Powell explained that Russia and the United States were divided over both the usefulness of further weapons inspections and the scale of the threat Iraq poses to the world.

Powell said that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ``must be disarmed ... and he will be disarmed -- peacefully, hopefully, but if necessary, the United States is prepared to lead a coalition of the willing, a coalition of willing nations, either under U.N. authority or without U.N. authority, if that turns out to be the case, in order to disarm this man.''

The interview was broadcast as Ivanov was shuttling between European capitals to discuss the Iraq crisis.

Later Wednesday, Ivanov was to also meet in Paris with French President Jacques Chirac, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.