ST. PETERSBURG - The anti-war trio of Russia, France and Germany pushed Saturday for the United Nations' supremacy in rebuilding Iraq but toned down their criticism of the United States, with French President Jacques Chirac voicing hope that fractured ties with Washington would be mended.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at a hastily arranged summit dominated by the Iraqi crisis in Russia's former imperial capital of St. Petersburg. On Saturday, the three leaders wrapped up their two-day gathering by opening a seminar on security and international law.

"Once the necessary security has been restored, the United Nations should play a central role in ensuring that Iraq regains its sovereignty and that the Iraqi people recover their dignity and their freedom," Chirac said at the start of the seminar.

"There can be no lasting international order based on the logic of power," he said, adding that a leading U.N. role in Iraq would help "allay the popular feelings of frustration in the region."

Schroeder said the United Nations is crucial for bringing "legitimacy" to postwar reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

"We must use the United Nations' experience in this country," the chancellor said. "The legitimacy of the restoration of the state and economic structures can be ensured only through international law."

Chirac, Schroeder and Putin led the diplomatic opposition to the U.S.-led military campaign in Iraq, and the issue badly strained their nations' relations with the United States. Nevertheless, Chirac said Saturday that he was pleased with the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

"Condemnation of the dictatorship was never the issue. France and all other democracies welcome its fall," Chirac said. "Our dispute was about how to manage the world and its crises, particularly proliferation crises."

He also signaled a desire to mend the rift with the United States.

"We can rebuild our unity around the values that all great democracies share. This spirit of solidarity and collective responsibility should emerge strengthened from this crisis," Chirac said. "I'm convinced that the international community can once again agree on its fundamental values."

Putin said the crisis highlighted the need for modernization of the United Nations and the entire system of international law.

"In recent times, many shortcomings of the existing international law system and serious contradictions have emerged, which create a serious potential for conflict," Putin said. "If we had effective mechanisms for solving crisis situations, we would be able to more effectively solve the most acute global problems, and, what's especially important, do so without acting beyond the law."

Schroeder's visit to St. Petersburg had been planned long ago, but the summit was hastily transformed into a three-way affair following a meeting of U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair earlier this week.

Bush and Blair said the United Nations should play a "vital" role in rebuilding Iraq but that its role had not been defined. U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz flatly told a Senate panel Thursday that the United Nations "can't be in charge."

Putin responded positively Friday to Wolfowitz's suggestion that Russia, France and Germany forgive Iraq's debt, saying Moscow was ready to consider the issue as early as June at the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations in Evian, France.

Schroeder said the debt issue could only be discussed within the Paris Club of creditor nations after Iraq forms a legitimate government.