A U.N. resolution on new sanctions against Iran may not be ready until June and if a vote on it fails, European states could take unilateral measures instead, French and Finnish ministers said on Sunday.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said France remained determined to get U.N. backing for sanctions targeting Iran''s nuclear program, but indicated that the support of Russia and China among the five permanent Security Council members was some way off.

"We are ... talking and talking, trying to get an agreement by negotiation and at the same time working on sanctions. I believe that yes, before June it will be possible, but I''m not so sure," Kouchner told reporters during a foreign ministers'' retreat in northern Finland.

"Before June I hope, but who am I to hope or decide," he said, pointing out that France had originally hoped to get a U.N. sanctions package prepared in February, when it was chairing the Security Council.