West threats against Syria wreck peace talks: Russia

Russia has warned that threatening the Syrian government with military force and UN resolutions could wreck peace talks aimed at resolving the crisis in the Arab country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the remarks on Monday after France, Britain and the United States agreed to seek a “strong binding” UN resolution with “serious consequences” if Damascus fails to hand over its chemical weapons.

“If for someone it is more important to constantly threaten … that is another path to wrecking completely the chances of calling the Geneva 2 conference,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow.

He also said any calls for swift UN action against the Syrian government shows a “lack of understanding” of the chemical weapons deal reached with Syria.

Russia and the US agreed on Saturday in Geneva on a deal to eliminate Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons by mid-2014.

Based on the agreement, Damascus has one week to hand over the details of its chemical weapons to international inspectors. Syria has already accepted the proposal, which was initially put forward by Russia as a way to head off Washington’s possible use of force against Damascus.

Washington and Moscow have also agreed to adopt a UN Security Council resolution backed up by the threat of unspecified sanctions in the event of Syria’s noncompliance.

Russia, however, has said that it will block any move to write an explicit authorization for the use of military force into the resolution.



By Press TV

