UN SC Res on Syria creates conditions for external interference

In an interview with the Profile weekly published on Monday, Lavrov said the U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria created conditions for the external interference and Russia came against this.

"The resolution put forth by our Western partners causes damage to several provisions and we come against it," he stressed.

In particular, instead of "weapons embargo" the resolution calls for "displaying vigilance" related to all arms supplies to Syria, the minister noted. "By taking into account our partners' capabilities we can be sure that if this resolution is adopted, they will turn "this vigilance" into the real embargo. We remember how they complied with the embargo imposed on Libya. Despite the embargo, our partners' capabilities are well-known for us. They seek to arm one of the parties involved in the conflict."

"In addition, the resolution contains an ultimatum, and only to the government of Bashar al-Assad: if we are not satisfied with your behaviour in a month, we will impose sanctions. Thus, we can say if the resolution is adopted, it will be refuted by its addressee. We come against this and we wouldn't want to create conditions for the inevitable external interference," Lavrov pointed out.

"We are concerned over the fact that when during discussions on the resolution, we proposed to include a point on the impossibility of the external interference under any circumstances, the co-authors of the resolution - Western countries - flatly refused. In our view, the West's statement saying Syria is 'another thing' and 'the Libyan scenario' cannot be used are seriously overvalued," the minister said.

"We call for adopting a balanced resolution, which will condemn violence of any side. In addition, we want to demand al-Assad continue reforms, it is necessary to convince the Syrian opposition to start talks and come to an agreement. We are ready to propose such resolution jointly with our Chinese partners," Lavrov said.

Last week, the Foreign Ministry reported that Russia was ready for further work with the U.N. Security Council due to a new draft resolution on Syria that was prepared jointly with China.

The resolution, which was blocked earlier, "was based on means of easing tension and differed by the ultimatum against Damascus, and threatened to use sanctions on the Syrian authorities", the ministry said.

"Such approach runs counter the peaceful settlement of the crisis on the basis of all-Syrian national dialogue and could incite a large-scale conflict and destabilisation in the region as a whole," the ministry said.

On October 4, Russia and China blocked efforts of other major powers to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria, with a dramatic dual veto thwarting a call for an immediate halt to the crackdown in Syria against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad. Nine of the 15-member council countries, including the United States, voted in favour of adopting the resolution; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass.

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