CIS

Home page

CIS

Russia urges Syrian sides to stop fighting simultaneously

16 July 2012 19:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russia on Monday urged all Syrian sides to stop hostilities simultaneously to end the 16-month crisis in the country, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Ahead of UN-Arab League joint special envoy Kofi Annan’s second visit to Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Syrian sides should synchronically withdraw heavy weaponry and armed forces from cities under the UN mission’s control.

On the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), Lavrov said Russia would agree to a technical extension of the mission, which would otherwise end its initial 90-day mandate on July 20.

"We are ready for the so-called technical extension -- a resolution that will not contain any substantive evaluations," Lavrov told a press conference.

In contrast to a Western-proposed draft resolution of the UN Security Council, which contains threats of sanctions against Syria, Russia disseminated its own draft resolution last week, which proposed extending the mandate of UNSMIS for another three months, reducing the number of military observers and asking the operation to take on a more political mission.

According to Lavrov, Moscow strongly opposes linking UNSMIS’ mandate extension with military operations against Syria. He even said the Western-proposed draft resolution contains "elements of blackmail."

"We are being told that if you do not agree to passing the (Western-proposed) resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, then we shall refuse to extend the mandate of the monitoring mission," said Lavrov.

Chapter VII allows the UN Security Council to take military and non-military action to restore international peace and security.

"We consider it to be an absolutely counterproductive and dangerous approach, since it is unacceptable to use observers as bargain chips," Lavrov said.

Meanwhile, Lavrov stressed that Russia and China should not be blamed for what’s going on in Syria, saying Western criticisms are "unacceptable."

Western threats such as "they are going to pay for that" are "undiplomatic" and "basically uncivilized," Lavrov said.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the third Friends of Syria meeting in Paris that Russia and China were "holding up progress" in a settlement to the Syrian crisis, describing their stances as "no longer tolerable."

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman later strongly rejected Clinton’s remarks, calling them "unacceptable." < China is not impeding the settlement process, but has made an important contribution to safeguarding the UN Charter, the fundamental interests of the Syrian people and pursuing a political solution to the Syrian crisis, the spokesperson said.

Lavrov reiterated that Moscow is not taking side in the crisis or supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but is backing Annan’s six-point peace plan, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the Geneva declaration that envisages a roadmap to pave the way for a Syrian-led transition.

"These documents should only be implemented entirely, and not in individual parts that someone might be favoring," Lavrov said.

"We would accept any decision by the Syrian people as to who will run Syria, as long as it is a decision made by Syrians themselves," he added.

Also, Lavrov warned that some Western countries are provoking a civil war in Syria, as some armed opposition groups are being encouraged to refuse cease-fire proposals and press the Syrian government to lay down weapons unilaterally.

He urged all external powers to exert their influence on different sides in Syria to stop violence immediately, start an intra-Syria dialogue between the government and the opposition, form a transitional body and implement the Geneva agreements.

"Pressure should be put on both the government and on the opposition in order to end the violence there," Lavrov said.

According to the Kremlin, Annan is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday on the current Syrian crisis.

As the top negotiator and initiator of a peace plan for the Syrian conflict, Annan also planned to discuss the situation with Lavrov.