A handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's President Bashar Assad (L) talking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the presidential palace in Damascus on 7 February 2012. (Photo: AFP - HO - SANA)
Russia is persisting on its call for dialogue to end the Syrian crisis, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying on Wednesday that Syrians should determine the outcome of any negotiations.
"Any outcome of national dialogue should become the result of agreement between the Syrians themselves and should be acceptable to all the Syrians," Lavrov told reporters, after returning from a visit to Damascus on Tuesday.
Lavrov said Syrian President Bashar Assad "delegated the responsibility of holding such a dialogue to Vice President (Farouk) al-Sharaa" in a bid to resolve the bloody crisis that the UN says has killed at least 5,400 people.
Syria's external opposition, the Syrian National Council (SNC), has rejected repeated Russian attempts to engage in dialogue with the Syrian regime, demanding the ouster of Assad before any talks on a transition can take place.
The Turkish-based SNC is heavily influenced by the exiled Muslim Brotherhood – a longtime nemesis of the Baath – and have developed deep ties with armed rebels of the Free Syrian Army – also based in Turkey.
But what representation the SNC have within Syria is unknown, and thus difficult to determine whether their rejection of negotiations is shared by Syrian protesters on the ground.
Lavrov blamed both Assad's regime and opposition forces for instigating the violence that has killed thousands of people since March.
He told journalists in Moscow that "on both sides there are people that aim at an armed confrontation, not a dialogue."
Russia is at loggerheads with Western powers, who have firmly established warm ties with Syria's external opposition.
Prominent US Senator John McCain on Tuesday suggested that Washington should consider arming Syrian rebels to fight a civil war.
"We should start considering all options, including arming the opposition." McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate, told reporters after a meeting with far-right Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
But the call was quickly hosed down by the White House, with State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland stating: "We don't think more arms into Syria is the answer."
"We are not considering that step right now", said President Barack Obama's spokesman Jay Carney, who told reporters that Washington was "exploring the possibility of providing humanitarian aid to Syrians."
Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed UN resolution last Saturday that called on to Assad step aside.
The veto drew a barrage of criticism from the West and Gulf Arab states, who have withdrawn their envoys from Damascus.
The diplomatic fallout is still ongoing four days after the Security Council vote, with China rejecting British criticism of its veto as "irresponsible."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Chinese action would only encourage further bloodshed in Syria and accused Beijing and Russia of siding with the Syrian regime "in support of their own national interests."
"Their approach lets the Syrian people down, and will only encourage President Assad's brutal regime to increase the killing, as it has done in Homs over the past 24 hours," Hague said in a strongly worded statement on Saturday.
But skepticism exists concerning the Western interests in the Syria conflict, with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea telling Al-Akhbar this week that some in the West are obstructing quick solutions to the crisis in order to devastate the country and destroy its status as a regional power.
The veto exposed a widening distrust between Moscow and Beijing and Western powers. Russia and China cited Western exploitation of a similar UN resolution in 2011 that enabled military action in Libya.
NATO forces ultimately took sides in the conflict, leading to the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi, and infuriating Russia and China, both of which are now determined to prevent a similar scenario in Syria.
China's foreign ministry said Hague's comments were "extremely irresponsible" and had "ulterior motives."
"China's action is righteous and fair and any efforts to stoke discord in China-Arab relations will be in vain," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a regular media briefing.
"China is the friend of all Syrian people. China is always mindful of maintaining the long-term interests of the Syrian people and maintaining peace and stability of Syria and the region," he added.
Russia envoy denies Qatar annihilation threat
Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied Internet reports that he had threatened Qatar with annihilation during an argument with the Gulf state's prime minister over the Syria resolution.
"There is a lie, there is a blatant lie. One has to come up with some different, stronger description," envoy Vitaly Churkin said. "It's just dishonest and dirty and provocative."
Qatar has been at the forefront of states working for Assad's removal, seeing an opportunity to remove Syria as a key regional player and install Sunni Islamists friendly to Doha.
The Internet report quoted Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem as telling Churkin that a veto would cause Russia to "lose all the Arab countries," and Churkin as responding that if Sheikh Hamad spoke to him "in this tone once again ... there will be no such thing as Qatar after today."
The report, whose origin could not immediately be established, cited what it said was a video recording of a conversation at the United Nations last week but did not make clear on what occasion it took place. Sheikh Hamad addressed a Security Council meeting on Syria on January 31.
Churkin told a hastily convened news conference that he had been "inundated by calls in the last couple of hours," including from Moscow, about the alleged exchange.
He said he had met Sheikh Hamad three times in New York, all with other officials present. "You understand very well that if you want to make threats and discuss arms shipments, whatever, you don't talk in the presence of 20 people, including your colleagues from the Security Council," he said.
Churkin said he had established a good relationship with Sheikh Hamad since first meeting him in 2006, and that threats were "not my style."
"There was not even a hint of any threats, intimidation, rudeness from me or from the prime minister of Qatar," he added.
Churkin charged that "somebody" was trying to drive a wedge between Russia and the Arab world, highlighting Russian sensitivity over suggestions that its Syria veto may have seriously antagonized Arab countries, whose causes Moscow has long said it champions.
He said that if the "somebody" was from the Arab world, they should keep in mind a Russian saying: "Don't spit into a well, you may need to drink the water" – suggesting that Arab countries might need Russian backing in the future.
Churkin said he regretted the veto of a resolution supported by 13 of the 15 council members and repeated suggestions that two or three more days of negotiations could have produced a compromise.
(Al-Akhbar, Reuters, AFP, AP)
"Any outcome of national dialogue should become the result of agreement between the Syrians themselves and should be acceptable to all the Syrians," Lavrov told reporters, after returning from a visit to Damascus on Tuesday.
Lavrov said Syrian President Bashar Assad "delegated the responsibility of holding such a dialogue to Vice President (Farouk) al-Sharaa" in a bid to resolve the bloody crisis that the UN says has killed at least 5,400 people.
Syria's external opposition, the Syrian National Council (SNC), has rejected repeated Russian attempts to engage in dialogue with the Syrian regime, demanding the ouster of Assad before any talks on a transition can take place.
The Turkish-based SNC is heavily influenced by the exiled Muslim Brotherhood – a longtime nemesis of the Baath – and have developed deep ties with armed rebels of the Free Syrian Army – also based in Turkey.But what representation the SNC have within Syria is unknown, and thus difficult to determine whether their rejection of negotiations is shared by Syrian protesters on the ground.
Lavrov blamed both Assad's regime and opposition forces for instigating the violence that has killed thousands of people since March.
He told journalists in Moscow that "on both sides there are people that aim at an armed confrontation, not a dialogue."
Russia is at loggerheads with Western powers, who have firmly established warm ties with Syria's external opposition.
Prominent US Senator John McCain on Tuesday suggested that Washington should consider arming Syrian rebels to fight a civil war."We should start considering all options, including arming the opposition." McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate, told reporters after a meeting with far-right Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
But the call was quickly hosed down by the White House, with State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland stating: "We don't think more arms into Syria is the answer."
"We are not considering that step right now", said President Barack Obama's spokesman Jay Carney, who told reporters that Washington was "exploring the possibility of providing humanitarian aid to Syrians."
Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed UN resolution last Saturday that called on to Assad step aside.
The veto drew a barrage of criticism from the West and Gulf Arab states, who have withdrawn their envoys from Damascus.
The diplomatic fallout is still ongoing four days after the Security Council vote, with China rejecting British criticism of its veto as "irresponsible."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Chinese action would only encourage further bloodshed in Syria and accused Beijing and Russia of siding with the Syrian regime "in support of their own national interests."
"Their approach lets the Syrian people down, and will only encourage President Assad's brutal regime to increase the killing, as it has done in Homs over the past 24 hours," Hague said in a strongly worded statement on Saturday.
But skepticism exists concerning the Western interests in the Syria conflict, with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea telling Al-Akhbar this week that some in the West are obstructing quick solutions to the crisis in order to devastate the country and destroy its status as a regional power.The veto exposed a widening distrust between Moscow and Beijing and Western powers. Russia and China cited Western exploitation of a similar UN resolution in 2011 that enabled military action in Libya.
NATO forces ultimately took sides in the conflict, leading to the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi, and infuriating Russia and China, both of which are now determined to prevent a similar scenario in Syria.
China's foreign ministry said Hague's comments were "extremely irresponsible" and had "ulterior motives."
"China's action is righteous and fair and any efforts to stoke discord in China-Arab relations will be in vain," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a regular media briefing.
"China is the friend of all Syrian people. China is always mindful of maintaining the long-term interests of the Syrian people and maintaining peace and stability of Syria and the region," he added.
Russia envoy denies Qatar annihilation threat
Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied Internet reports that he had threatened Qatar with annihilation during an argument with the Gulf state's prime minister over the Syria resolution.
"There is a lie, there is a blatant lie. One has to come up with some different, stronger description," envoy Vitaly Churkin said. "It's just dishonest and dirty and provocative."
Qatar has been at the forefront of states working for Assad's removal, seeing an opportunity to remove Syria as a key regional player and install Sunni Islamists friendly to Doha.
The Internet report quoted Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem as telling Churkin that a veto would cause Russia to "lose all the Arab countries," and Churkin as responding that if Sheikh Hamad spoke to him "in this tone once again ... there will be no such thing as Qatar after today."The report, whose origin could not immediately be established, cited what it said was a video recording of a conversation at the United Nations last week but did not make clear on what occasion it took place. Sheikh Hamad addressed a Security Council meeting on Syria on January 31.
Churkin told a hastily convened news conference that he had been "inundated by calls in the last couple of hours," including from Moscow, about the alleged exchange.
He said he had met Sheikh Hamad three times in New York, all with other officials present. "You understand very well that if you want to make threats and discuss arms shipments, whatever, you don't talk in the presence of 20 people, including your colleagues from the Security Council," he said.
Churkin said he had established a good relationship with Sheikh Hamad since first meeting him in 2006, and that threats were "not my style."
"There was not even a hint of any threats, intimidation, rudeness from me or from the prime minister of Qatar," he added.
Churkin charged that "somebody" was trying to drive a wedge between Russia and the Arab world, highlighting Russian sensitivity over suggestions that its Syria veto may have seriously antagonized Arab countries, whose causes Moscow has long said it champions.
He said that if the "somebody" was from the Arab world, they should keep in mind a Russian saying: "Don't spit into a well, you may need to drink the water" – suggesting that Arab countries might need Russian backing in the future.
Churkin said he regretted the veto of a resolution supported by 13 of the 15 council members and repeated suggestions that two or three more days of negotiations could have produced a compromise.
(Al-Akhbar, Reuters, AFP, AP)
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