“Russia won’t pressure Syrian president to step down”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says there is "absolutely" no chance of Moscow telling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stand down.
Friday, 08.03.2013.
14:10
LONDON Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says there is "absolutely" no chance of Moscow telling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stand down. He told the BBC that Russia was not in the "regime-change game". “Russia won’t pressure Syrian president to step down” The main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, has long insisted that President Assad must go before any talks take place, the BBC points out. Lavrov’s statement comes ahead of his visit London next week for talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. Both countries say the Syrian crisis will top the agenda. Russia has traditionally been a close ally of the Syrian government and is the country's biggest arms supplier, BBC noted. "I can only say it is not for us to decide who should lead Syria. It is for the Syrians to decide," the Russian foreign minister said and pointed out that Russia was against interference in domestic conflicts. Lavrov stated that Russia and Great Britain were not far apart as far as the eventual goal was concerned. “We both want Syria to be united, to be democratic. We both want the Syrian people to choose freely the way they would like to run their country,” the Russian minister said. "That has been the Russian position... since the crisis started," he added. Lavrov welcomed some of the "constructive elements" in the recent position of the Syrian National Coalition, stressing that its leader had been speaking about his interest in the dialogue. He said he would be discussing the issue in detail with Hague. The UN estimates that about 70,000 people have died since the uprising against President Assad began in March 2011, about a million Syrians have now fled abroad and some 2.5 million have been forced from their homes inside the country. The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said on Thursday that Syria's healthcare system had been wrecked by the conflict. Sergei Lavrov (Beta/AP, file) Tanjug
“Russia won’t pressure Syrian president to step down”
The main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, has long insisted that President Assad must go before any talks take place, the BBC points out.Lavrov’s statement comes ahead of his visit London next week for talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Both countries say the Syrian crisis will top the agenda. Russia has traditionally been a close ally of the Syrian government and is the country's biggest arms supplier, BBC noted.
"I can only say it is not for us to decide who should lead Syria. It is for the Syrians to decide," the Russian foreign minister said and pointed out that Russia was against interference in domestic conflicts.
Lavrov stated that Russia and Great Britain were not far apart as far as the eventual goal was concerned.
“We both want Syria to be united, to be democratic. We both want the Syrian people to choose freely the way they would like to run their country,” the Russian minister said.
"That has been the Russian position... since the crisis started," he added.
Lavrov welcomed some of the "constructive elements" in the recent position of the Syrian National Coalition, stressing that its leader had been speaking about his interest in the dialogue.
He said he would be discussing the issue in detail with Hague.
The UN estimates that about 70,000 people have died since the uprising against President Assad began in March 2011, about a million Syrians have now fled abroad and some 2.5 million have been forced from their homes inside the country.
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said on Thursday that Syria's healthcare system had been wrecked by the conflict.
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