Russia Slams Western Attempts To Solve Syrian Crisis Outside UN

Attempts by some Western countries to bypass the UN in tackling the Syria crisis would break the consensus world powers reached in Geneva last month, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday.

During an interview with Itar-Tass news agency, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said statements made by some Western leaders urging to end the conflict in Syria outside the UN Security Council framework were wrong and “a step aside from our common positions.”

“We agreed that all foreign players will act in one direction – in the work with the government and with the opposition. We believe that viable decisions backing political settlement can be taken only in the UN Security Council,” Gatilov said.

The international community would exert “proper influence” on both sides of the Syrian conflict only if it spoke with one voice and acted coordinately, Gatilov said, adding some Western partners’ intention to circumvent the UN would make no progress in the current difficult situation.

Meanwhile, Gatilov slammed those Western countries trying to spur “further bloodshed” from the opposition. “This upset us greatly, we take this as a step aside from the consensus obtained by the Geneva agreements,” the diplomat said.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Monday it might use chemical or germ weapons if there was specific outside aggression.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. President Barack Obama expressed their concern at the statement.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday urged the Syrian authorities to strictly honor its obligations under the international ban on chemical weapons.

Xinhua