President Putin: Any Attempt to Circumvent Security Council Regarding Syria Will Undermine Its Reputation
The official Spokesman for the Russian Presidency Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin believes that any attempt to circumvent the Security Council regarding Syria will be ineffective and will undermine the reputation of this international organization.
ITAR-TASS quoted Peskov on Friday as saying that President Putin discussed with the Russian National Security Council the Syrian issue due to the Russian veto on a draft resolution on Syria at the Security Council on Thursday.
He said that the members of the Russian National Security Council affirmed that attempts to link the escalating tension in Syria to the Russian stance are utterly inappropriate and unacceptable.
Gatilov: The US Has Adopted A Hypocrite Attitude Towards Syrian Issue
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Gennady Gatilov, said that the US has adopted “a hypocritical attitude” towards the Syrian file in its refrain from exerting pressure on the opposition to start dialogue with the government in Syria.
In a statement posted on his page on the net, Gatilov added that the Americans have done nothing towards urging the opposition to hold dialogue with the Syrian government, in comment on random accusations made by the U.S. Permanent Representative to the Security Council Susan Rice out of anger over the Russia-China veto against the Western draft resolution on Syria.
Earlier, Gatilove announced in a statement to the Russian Interfax news agency his country’s support to a draft resolution proposed by Pakistan at UN Security Council on extending the observer mission in Syria for 45 days.
Gatilov said that Russia will support the draft resolution which is to be put to the vote on Friday as it has participated in preparing it along with the Pakistani partners.
The draft provides for extending the mandate of the UN observer mission 45 additional days after it expires on Saturday.
Churkin Calls for Not being Misled by Humanitarian Discourse of Some Countries on Situation in Syria
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, criticized the policy of some countries on Syria which would further inflame the crisis and shed more of the Syrian blood.
In a statement to Russia Today TV Channel on Friday, Churkin said ”Do not be misled by the humanitarian discourse of some countries.. The policies on Syria are more geopolitical than humanitarian…Unfortunately, the consequences of these policies will make the conflict and bloodshed continuous.”
He clarified that the aid seems humanitarian but in fact is a prelude to a military intervention that will cause more bloodshed, adding ”The US and the UK intervened in Iraq under the most sublime of pretexts, causing more than 115 thousand civilian victims, let alone the displaced people inside and outside Iraq.”
Churkin said that the Syrian opposition’s rejection of national dialogue that the Syrian leadership agreed to is an obstacle to the efforts of the UN envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, to solve the crisis, indicating that ”the UN observer mission that we seek to extend is part of the international humanitarian interference to find a peaceful settlement to the crisis in Syria.”
He criticized the fierce media campaign against Russia for vetoing Western-backed draft resolutions at the UN Security Council that aimed to interfere in the Syrian affairs and impose sanctions on Syria.
Russian Foreign Ministry: Russia’ Stance on Crisis in Syria Has Not Changed for a Moment
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday called on the Western countries to do something to persuade the armed opposition in Syria to step onto the path of a political solution instead of making crude insinuations about the firm Russian stance.
In a press conference published on Russia Today website, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, warned of the consequences of the US plans to surpass the Security Council and interfere in Syria’s internal affairs.
He stressed that Russia has no backed for a moment throughout the course of the crisis in Syriafrom searching for a political settlement.
The Russian spokesman strongly criticized the statements of some European officials who considered that the recent terrorist attack in Damascus stresses the necessity of further pressuring the Syrian leadership because it has made the situation reach that far.
He rejected the Western accusations against Russia, saying that the attempts of some Western countries to make Moscow seem responsible for the situation in Syria as “absolutely unacceptable”.
Lukashevich warned that the US’s announcement of its intention to work outside the Security Council and interfere in Syria’s internal affairs constitutes “a very very alarming signal”.
“If such declarations and such plans are elements of actual policy, I think that is a very, very alarming signal to all of us about how the international community plans to respond to international conflict situations,” said Lukashevich.
He added that the task of all external players, particularly the Security Council members, is to use all their capabilities and work within the resolutions previously agreed on, specially resolutions 2042 and 2043, and what was agreed on at the Geneva meeting.
Lukashevich Rejects US Threats against Russia over Veto on Syria
In another context, Lukashevich stressed Russia’s rejection of US threats of taking revenge over the Russian veto against the Western draft resolution on the crisis in Syria.
He criticized measures taken by the U.S. Congress to prevent the Pentagon from cooperation with the Russian Aporns Exports company in a bid to take revenge on Russia because of its veto at the Security Council, dismissing the threats of imposing sanctions on Russia as unacceptable.
He stressed that taking revenge on it because of the veto or its principled stance on peaceful settlement to the crisis in Syria and placing the responsibility for escalation on it will not avail.
Pushkov: Western Position Towards Syria is Political Cover to Escalate Tension in It
Chairman of the Russian Duma’s International Affairs Committee Aleksey Pushkov said that the western position towards Syria serves as a political cover for the escalation of tension in it, affirming that the Russian-Chinese veto on the western draft resolution at the Security Council on Thursday was logical.
In a statement to ITAR-TASS, Pushkov noted that Russia voiced its rejection of unilateral approaches and its calls for a political solution, adding that the western reaction to the Russian-Chinese veto strongly shows the double standards employed by the west regarding the Syrian crisis.
He went on to say that the “friends of Syria” group with the US on its helm uses double standards and supports armed group, and that during the meeting in Geneva and the discussions of Annan’s plan, the countries in this group were acting as if they understood the need for political solution in dialogue, when in fact they sent messages to the so-called opposition groups saying that they don’t actually take these agreements seriously, effectively creating a diplomatic cover for these groups.
Pushkov said that the proposed western draft resolution used the policy of applying unilateral pressure on the Syrian government, despite the fact that Annan’s plan and the Geneva meeting clearly underlined the presence of two sides: the authority and the opposition, and stressed the need for dialogue between them.
He wondered if the west demands that President Bashar al-Assad abdicate prior to talks, then with whom would these talks be held?
Pushkov affirmed that the “friends of Syria” group actually wants a military resolution to the issue, and that they’re recklessly seeking to remove President al-Assad, but they don’t imagine who might replace him, adding that the group members’ inability to see two steps in front of them and their obsession with toppling the government no matter the price are strange.
He concluded by saying that such stances not only lead to a continuing civil war, but will also cause terrorist threats to grow in the entire region.
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