Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Related Articles
New York/Moscow, SANA –Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin said Saturday that Russia submitted a draft resolution to UNSC on Syria that substitutes the French one.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said that the French draft resolution has a number of stances that are unacceptable for Russia, and that it politicizes the humanitarian situation, adding that Russia prepared a number of amendments for the draft and is prepared to work with the document if it becomes balanced.
Russian Sputnik News Agency quoted Churkin as telling the journalists that after voting for the French draft resolution, the alternative Russian document will be considered.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on France to adopt the Russian amendments to the draft resolution it submitted to the Security Council, stressing that without these amendments and without separating the “moderate opposition” from the terrorists, this draft can’t contribute to resolving the crisis in Syria.
Churkin said on Friday that he doesn’t see a possibility for the Security Council to adopt the French draft resolution on Syria.
In a statement to the press on Friday prior to holding an emergency meeting for the Security Council to discuss the situation in Syria, Churkin said that Russia, which is chairing the Security Council in October, believes that voting on the French draft resolution is a step proviking the Russian veto.
“I don’t see how we can let this resolution pass,” he stated.
The meeting in question is held upon an initiative from Russia to discuss the proposition made by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on withdrawing Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists from Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods.
On a relevant note, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on France to adopt the Russian amendments to the draft resolution they submitted to the Security Council, stressing that without these amendments and without separating the “moderate opposition” from the terrorists, this draft can’t contribute to resolving the crisis in Syria.
He told the Russian television that adopting a decision that doesn’t match the principles reached through Russian-American coordination and which the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and the international community approved, then that would be a big mistake, as adopting sentimental texts that call for an immediate cessation of combat without studies will be exploited by al-Nusra.
Lavrov said the de Mistura’s suggestion regarding the withdrawal of al-Nusra from Aleppo’s eastern neighborhood is in the right direction, but the devil is in the details, wondering about the fate of other militants who would remain in Aleppo as per de Mistura’s proposal since these militants merged with al-Nusra in the past weeks, stressing that these militants must break off from al-Nusra completely and announce that clearly.
He also said that the removal of militants from towns in cities in Syria has nothing to do with “coercive displacement” as some UN officials like Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien.
The Minister stressed the need to make progress in all aspects of settlements, and not to propose any preconditions from the Riyadh group which has been obstructing the dialogue in Geneva.
In the same context, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said that the French draft resolution has a number of positions that are unacceptable for Russia, and that it politicizes the humanitarian situation.
In a press conference, Gatilov said that Russia prepared a number of amendments for the draft and is prepared to work with the document if it becomes balanced, noting that the French side hasn’t confirmed whether it will take Russia’s suggestions into consideration or not.
He pointed out that the draft in its current form seeks to exert more pressure on the Syrian government and on Moscow, adding that Moscow is waiting for the response of the Western partners to de Mistura’s initiative on withdrawing al-Nusra from Aleppo.
Hazem Sabbagh/Milhim/Mazen
