Thread: Russia, China repeat opposition to intervention in Syria

Russia, China repeat opposition to intervention in Syria


Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Li Baodong (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (file photo)

Fri Jun 8, 2012 12:30AM GMT


China and Russia have once again expressed opposition to foreign armed intervention and forcible regime change in Syria.

“There will not be a [United Nations] Security Council mandate for outside intervention [in Syria], I guarantee you that," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Thursday on the sidelines of a visit to Kazakhstan, AFP reported.

He added that allowing any outside military intervention against Damascus would benefit armed groups in the country, and that Moscow would veto any Security Council resolution authorizing intervention in Syria. The Kremlin’s stance was also echoed at the 66th session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

"We resolutely oppose the solutions to the Syrian crisis through outside armed intervention or any attempt to forcibly promote regime change," Chinese Ambassador to the UN Li Baodong told the assembly.

Russia and China vetoed two previous Security Council resolutions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

On Thursday, the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) called on the anti-Damascus rebels inside Syria to “step up military assaults” on security forces.

Earlier in the day, the Syrian government issued a statement, rejecting a report by the SNC, which had alleged that security forces had killed 100 people in the al-Qubeir village in the west-central Syria province of Hama on Wednesday.

“A terrorist group committed a heinous crime in the Hama region, which claimed nine victims. The reports by the media are contributing to spilling the blood of Syrians,” the statement said.

On Wednesday, the official Syrian Arab News Agency said that an “armed terrorist group” had killed a brigadier general and two other members of security forces in Damascus’ countryside, and two others in the western province of Latakia during the day.

Hundreds of people, including many members of the Syrian security forces, have been killed in the unrest that began in Syria in March 2011. Damascus says foreign-sponsored “saboteurs and terrorists” are responsible for the killings.

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Russia warns Israel against attack on Iran

Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev
Wed Jun 6, 2012 10:12AM GMT

The secretary of the Russian Security Council has warned against the consequences of an Israeli military strike on Iran, calling for the resumption of talks over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

Nikolai Patrushev told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Tuesday that the consequences of a military attack on Iran will be “absolutely negative” for Israel and many neighboring countries.

He urged the international community to continue negotiations with Iran, rejecting claims that diplomacy has been exhausted over the Iranian nuclear issue.

"It is wrong to conclude that all opportunities and all the existing potential have been exhausted. Negotiations should continue," Patrushev said.

The Russian official also said that Moscow acknowledged Tehran’s right to develop peaceful nuclear energy.

This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday blasted Western powers for failing to halt Iran’s nuclear energy program.

Netanyahu said that the demands that the P5+1 placed on Iran during the recent negotiations were inadequate.

“The Iranians were only asked to stop 20 percent enrichment of uranium; that doesn’t stop their nuclear program in any way. It actually allows them to continue their nuclear program,” he said.

Iran and the P5+1 - Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany - wrapped up their latest meeting in Baghdad on May 24 after two days of negotiations.

Both sides agreed to hold another round of talks in Moscow on June 18-19.

A day before the latest round of the talks in Baghdad, Netanyahu had urged the world powers in the P5+1 group to “show determination, not weakness” and take a tougher stance on Iran.

Israel has repeatedly threatened Iran with a military option in a bid to force the Islamic Republic to halt its peaceful nuclear program, which has been closely monitored by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran rejects the allegations of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

AR/HJL/MA

PressTV - Russia warns Israel against attack on Iran

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