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MOSCOW — Russian FM says Moscow will support UN resolution endorsing Annan’s Syria plan.
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, March 20, 4:34 AM
MOSCOW — Russian FM says Moscow will support UN resolution endorsing Annan’s Syria plan.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A five-member UN team, mandated by Kofi Annan, the special envoy to Syria for the UN and Arab League, is in Syria attempting to launch a monitoring operation to help end the country’s crisis and establish a ceasefire.
The former UN secretary-general's spokesman said that the team, with expertise on political, peacekeeping and mediation issues, will stay as long as it is making progress in reaching agreement on practical steps to implement Annan's proposals.
Kofi Annan presented his six-point plan to Syrian President Bashar Assad during two meetings in Damascus on March 10-11 as the joint envoy for the UN and Arab League.
A key point of the proposal calls for Syria to "commit to stop the fighting and achieve urgently an effective United Nations supervised cessation of armed violence by all parties.” As these actions are being taken, Annan "shall seek similar commitments from all other armed groups to cease violence under an effective United Nations supervision mechanism," it said.
In a letter to Annan, Syria said it is "keen to end violence," but insisted that armed opposition groups give up their weapons first. It also demanded that Annan halt the supply and financing of weapons to the opposition.
Moscow says it is ready to back Kofi Annan's mission in Syria, not only in form of a statement, but also as a UN resolution. Russia’s Foreign Minister said, however, that the Security Council should not interpret Annan's proposals as an ultimatum, but simply as a basis for settling the crisis.
On Tuesday, the UN Security Council is expected to discuss a draft statement which backs Annan’s proposals and urges Syria to immediately implement them.
Lavrov said in a statement issued on Tuesday that Russia is “ready to support Kofi Annan’s mission and those proposals he conveyed to the Syrian side and to several opposition groups and also to the UN Security Council.”
“This not just in the form of a statement by the chair (of the Security Council) but in the form of a resolution,” Lavrov added.
The Russian foreign minister also stated there are “two minimum conditions needed” for a UN Security Council response regarding the Syria issue, “be it in the form of a statement or a resolution.”
A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a United Nations Security Council source told ABC News was "a bomb" certain to have serious repercussions.
Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the U.S. and its allies of trying to start another war.
Originally posted by butcherguy
reply to post by rigel4
Interesting story. Good for the Russians!
Star and flag for finding one of the shortest news stories that I have ever read.
BEIRUT — The UN Security Council sent a strong and united message to the Syrian government and opposition on Wednesday to immediately implement proposals by international envoy Kofi Annan to end the yearlong bloodshed. A nonbinding statement approved by the 15 council members and read at a formal meeting spells out Annan's proposals, which include a cease-fire first by the Syrian government, a daily two-hour halt to fighting to evacuate the injured and provide humanitarian aid, and inclusive political talks "to address the legitimate concerns of the Syrian people." In a bid to win support from Russia and China, which have twice vetoed European and U.S.-backed resolutions condemning President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protesters, France watered down the statement to eliminate possible consideration of "further measures," which could include sanctions or military action. Instead, the presidential statement now asks Annan to update the council regularly on the progress of his mission and says that "in the light of these reports, the Security Council will consider further steps as appropriate." The governments of the 15 council nations had been given until 9 a.m. (1300 GMT) Wednesday to raise any objections to the text of the statement. No country did so. "We hope that this will change the dynamic on the ground," said Germany's UN Ambassador Peter Wittig. "Given the track record of the Security Council, with the double vetoes, this is a good sign." A presidential statement, which needs approval from all council members, becomes part of the council's permanent record. It is stronger than a press statement, which does not. But unlike resolutions, neither statement is legally binding. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that the Syria crisis is the most pressing issue facing the world. The U.N. estimates more than 8,000 people have been killed. "We have no time to waste, no time to lose. Just one minute, one hour delay will mean more and more people dead," Ban told reporters in the Indonesian city of Bogor, his first stop on an Asian tour. On Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is ready to support a UN resolution endorsing Annan's plan for settling the Syrian crisis. But Lavrov warned that a resolution shouldn't turn into an ultimatum to the Syrian government. Russia and China called the earlier resolutions unbalanced and said they demanded an end only to government attacks, not ones by the opposition. Moscow also argued that the resolutions promoted regime change in Syria and feared outside intervention to support the rebels, as happened in Libya.