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Ukraine calls for settlement of Syrian crisis on basis of UN Charter

26 September 2012 22:57 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Ukraine on Wednesday called on all parties involved to settle the long-standing Syrian crisis on the basis of the UN Charter and universally recognized principles of international law, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych made the call when speaking at the General Debate of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly, which entered its second day here Wednesday.

"These days we watch closely the situation in Syria, which remains extremely alarming," he said. "Ukraine shares the deep concern of international community regarding escalation of violence in that state."

"We call on all relevant parties to exert maximum efforts to settle the conflict on the basis of respect to the UN Charter and universally recognized principles of international law," he said, adding "The people of Ukraine have never been and shall never be indifferent to human suffering. We don’t distinguish grief into ’ our’ and ’their’."

The Syrian crisis broke out in March 2011 and brought about a grave humanitarian situation in the Middle East countries, sending waves of refugees into Syria’s neighbors including Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.

As the situation in Syria aggravated this year, the Ukrainian president said his country "immediately evacuated the first group of Ukrainian and Polish citizens who stated their intention to return home."

"Let me reassure you that Ukrainian aircraft and ships that may be used for evacuation efforts in hot spots, shall always be at the disposal of anyone needing help, irrespectively of nationality, " he said.

He pledged that Ukraine has approved a decision to provide humanitarian assistance, using UN mechanisms, to Syria’s internally displaced persons and refugees.

"I am confident that by joint efforts of international community, we’ll manage to ensure the safety of civilian population in Syria," said Yanukovych, who strongly I believes in "international solidarity".