Russia warns of Western anti Syria move

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/05/270498/russia-warns-of-western-antisyria-move/

Russia has warned that Western countries are seeking a UN Security Council resolution that will aggravate the situation in Syria in order to pave the way for regime change in the country.

“If the priority is the change of the regime, then there will be more blood, but if the priority is to save lives, then there is no need for any type of resolutions. We have not yet tried to implement Geneva accords,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday.

He made the remarks at a joint press conference with Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi and UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in Cairo.

On November 2, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement saying the United States was giving “direct orders” to the “Syrian opposition.”

“We heard direct orders (from the United States) about what the Syrian opposition should do to form a ‘government in exile’, and about who should join such a government,” the statement read.

“US representatives are saying that they do not intend to wait for a change in Russia and China’s position. So they are bluntly making clear that they see the Syria conflict being settled exclusively on their terms,” the statement further read.

Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011 and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.

The anti-Syria Western states have been calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, but Russia and China oppose the Western drive to oust the Syrian president.

 

Rebel support pushes Syria deeper into the abyss of bloody sectarianism – Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (AFP Photo / Timothy A. Clary)

Source: Russia Today

Those who insist on a ceasefire only by the Syrian government encourage the opposition to intensify its hostilities, and “take upon themselves an enormous responsibility,” Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

­The shortest way to stop the loss of life in Syria, Lavrov said, is to adhere to the commitments in the Geneva communique, which were agreed upon by the Action Group as follow-up of the Kofi Annan Plan.

“We proposed to adopt a resolution in the UN Security Council that would endorse the Geneva communique as the basis for negotiations at the beginning of the transitional period, but this proposal had been blocked,” Lavrov noted.

“Those who oppose the implementation of the Geneva communique,” he explained, “in fact push Syria even deeper into the abyss of bloody sectarian strife.”

Lavrov noted that the deepening of internal conflict in Syria is of particular concern because the militarization of the conflict is combined with open calls for foreign intervention.

“We have consistently called for the consolidated efforts of the international community to compel the government and its opponents to immediately cease the violence and come to the negotiating table,” Lavrov said, adding that so far, there has been no progress in reaching unanimity on how to create conditions towards achieving that goal.

The foreign minister also expressed concern about the growing number of war crimes on both sides of the conflict, as recorded in a recent report by the UN Human Rights Council.

“Extremist organizations including al-Qaeda have become more active in Syria – they perpetrate terrorist attacks against innocent civilians and civil infrastructure,” Lavrov said.

The situation in the region requires the international community to use a comprehensive approach, and to reject “simplified and ideology-driven patterns and double standards,” the FM asserted.

He also condemned any unilateral sanctions “imposed by a state or a group of states sidestepping the United Nations to advance their political goals.”

“We have no doubt that such sanctions, especially when they are applied extra-territorially, weaken the unity of the international community and undermine the effectiveness of its efforts,” Lavrov said, adding that the events of recent years have clearly shown that “unilateral actions that violate international law and go beyond the decisions of the UN Security Council or distort the substance of these decisions do not do any good.”

He urged the UN to discuss the consequences of such actions and to resume discussions on the humanitarian limits of sanctions, a topic that, he said, somehow “faded away” in the UN.

Meanwhile on Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would contribute an additional $15 million in “non-lethal gear” to the “civilian opposition” trying to oust Assad. Another $30 million will be sent in humanitarian assistance to help people affected by the continuing conflict, Clinton said at a Friends of Syria meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA.

"It is no secret that our attempts to move forward at the UN Security Council have been blocked repeatedly, but the United States is not waiting," Clinton said.

US justifies terrorism against Syria: Russia

Members of the terrorist Free Syrian Army (File Photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/25/252691/us-justifying-terror-in-syria-russia/

Russian foreign minister says Washington is justifying terrorism against the Syrian government by failing to condemn atrocities committed by the armed groups fighting against Damascus.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday criticized the US for supporting armed groups in Syria and its failure to condemn the July 18 terrorist bomb attack in the Syrian capital that killed at least four high-profile security officials, including Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha and his deputy Assef Shawkat who is also President Assad's brother-in-law.
"This is quite an awful position, I cannot even find the words to make clear how we feel. This is directly justifying terrorism. How can this be understood?" Lavrov told reporters in Moscow.

The top Russian diplomat also criticized the US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice for arguing last week that the violence in Damascus meant the UN Security Council had to agree on a sanctions resolution against the Syrian government.

"In other words, to say it in plain Russian, this means 'we (the United States) will continue to support such terrorist acts for as long as the UN Security Council has not done what we want'," Lavrov said.

He also criticized a recent Arab League call for Assad's rapid resignation in return for a safe exit, accusing the bloc of offering 'conflicting solutions' to the Syrian issue.

Russia, along with China, has so far vetoed three UNSC resolutions against Syria and has repeatedly expressed opposition to outside meddling in the country's internal affairs.
Syria has been the scene of deadly unrest since mid-March, 2011 and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing protesters. But Damascus blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.