Russia, China back UN council statement on Syria

Russia, China back UN council statement on Syria
21 March, 2012 – Al-Akhbar

Russia, China, and Western powers finally arrived at a joint position on Syria on Wednesday with the endorsement of a UN Security Council statement outlining a peace plan to resolve the country’s year-long crisis.

The statement demands Syria “immediately” implement a peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and move to end hostilities and begin a democratic transition.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin shortly before the statement was agreed to, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear that Moscow fully supported the amended text.

“The council text reflects the reality in Syria and supports Annan’s aims,” Lavrov said after talks in Berlin with his German and Polish counterparts. “We support it fully.”

“The most important thing is that there are no ultimatums…and no suggestions as to who carries more blame,” he said.

In New York, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the council had “finally chosen to take a pragmatic look at Syria.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed the statement as a “positive step” and warned Assad he faced “increasing pressure” if he did not implement the peace plan.

British UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the statement sends a “strong and united message to the government and all other actors in Syria that they need to respond…immediately” to Annan’s peace proposals.

French envoy Gerard Araud called the statement “a small step by the Security Council in the right direction.”

“A resolution is still on the table and we hope we will manage to obtain a Security Council resolution,” Araud told reporters. …more