The Security Council of the UN will debate this afternoon the sudden Iraqi offer to invite UN inspectors to supervise their arms arsenals. International reactions to Iraq's sudden offer have been varied. Australia says that the Iraqi declaration must be taken with a great degree of skepticism, while China greeted it enthusiastically. Spokesmen for the governments of the U.S. and England voiced skepticism, and the United States continues to threaten military action if Baghdad does not comply with past UN resolutions. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov expressed pleasure with the new developments, saying, "Thanks to our joint efforts, we managed to avert the threat of a war scenario and go back to political means of solving the Iraqi problem."