A minor diplomatic feud erupted between Russia and Britain on Monday as Moscow was preparing to greet Queen Elizabeth II.


Two important figures in the Russian government will be conspicuously absent during this week's state visit by the queen and prominent British officials: Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev.


Kozyrev did not bother to return to Moscow to meet with his British counterpart, Douglas Hurd.


Interfax quoted an unnamed aide to Kozyrev as saying that the Russian foreign-policy chief was angry about critical remarks Hurd had made about his diplomatic initiative last week in Iraq.


Kozyrev, on a trip to Baghdad, persuaded Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to recognize Kuwait's present borders. Russia, in turn, is urging that United Nations trade sanctions against Iraq be lifted.


"Kozyrev was disappointed when he learned that Hurd, with whom he is linked by personal ties, hastily tried to belittle the significance of the Baghdad accords," the Kozyrev aide told Interfax.


The diplomat also quoted Kozyrev, who is now in New York, as saying that within a narrow circle, "it seems British diplomacy is losing its own face."


Chernomyrdin, who briefly interrupted his Black Sea vacation last week and returned to Moscow amid a ruble crisis, decided to skip the queen's visit and remain in Sochi.


He had been scheduled to greet the queen at the airport, but spokesman Valery Grishin said he now plans to come back Sunday, after the queen has left.


Instead, Russian officials decided to send First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets, who recently had airport duty of another kind.


He spoke with Ireland's prime minister at Shannon international airport when President Boris Yeltsin failed to get off the plane during a 70-minute stopover last month. Yeltsin later said he had overslept.