MOSCOW (REUTERS) -— Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz pursued Baghdad's goal of an end to a decade of U.N. sanctions against the oil-rich Gulf state when he talked to senior Russian officials here on Wednesday.

The Iraqi official held an initial 90 minutes of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov before breaking for lunch, Foreign Ministry officials said.

The talks were scheduled to resume later, but the officials stonewalled most questions about what had been said so far.

Statements by Iraqi officials are being keenly watched by oil markets, nervous about a looming Friday deadline for Baghdad to settle a dispute with the United Nations on oil exports.

Interfax reported that Aziz later met ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who flew to Baghdad on November 10 with aid supplies in a gesture of support for President Saddam Hussein's sanctions-bound government.

Ivanov began his meeting with Aziz saying they would focus on ''U.N. resolutions on lifting the blockade and sanctions'' against Iraq, Interfax news agency reported.

''The main task is to stabilise the situation in the Persian Gulf,'' Interfax quoted him as saying.

Diplomats cited by Interfax said Ivanov might consult with President Vladimir Putin during the break in talks with Aziz. Russian officials did not confirm that report or suggestions that Aziz might meet Putin.

Foreign Ministry staff said they did not know if a joint news conference with Ivanov, abruptly cancelled on Wednesday, would be rescheduled before Aziz was due to leave on Thursday.

Russia, a permanent U.N. Security Council member, opposes the oil and trade sanctions against its traditional ally Iraq, saying they inflict suffering on millions of ordinary people.

But in return for their suspension, Moscow wants Baghdad to allow U.N. inspectors to return and complete checks on whether Iraq has disposed of its banned weapons of mass destruction.

An Iraqi source said the Moscow talks could have snagged on the thorny issue of weapons inspections. ''Iraq doesn't agree with the return of the inspectors,'' the source said.

U.N. sanctions can be permanently lifted only once Iraq has been certified by international inspectors as free of weapons of mass destruction. The measures were imposed in 1990 following Iraq's invasion of neighbouring Gulf oil state Kuwait.

Aziz has been dispatched to friendly capitals to drum up international support for a lifting of sanctions, securing China's support on Tuesday.

Under the U.N. sanctions regime, Iraq may sell limited amounts of oil to purchase food and essential humanitarian supplies. But the proceeds are funnelled into a special U.N. account under the deal.

The United Nations has rejected as too low an Iraqi price offer on its next batch of oil for sale. If the dispute is not settled by a December 1 deadline, exports could be suspended.

Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Mohammed Rasheed on Tuesday stood by the country's price offer.

The dispute could keep Iraq's output of 2.3 million barrels per day from global markets and push crude prices higher.

Moscow has clear economic reasons of its own for wanting the sanctions' end. It wants an important role for Russian oil firms in developing Iraq's oil industry after they are lifted.

Ivanov has written to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan complaining that Iraq sanctions cost Russia $30 billion.