Russia warns West not to intervene in Syria
Members of the Syrian community in Yemen attend a sit-in in support of the Syrian revolution in Sanaa on January 17, 2012
Russia has warned the West against any attempts of securing support from the United Nations to use military force against Syria and the President Bashar Assad’s regime, the BBC reported.
Syria’s powerful ally made one of its strongest statements in support of Assad on Wednesday, reminding the West that as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia can veto any council resolution that would send military into Syria.
Read more at GlobalPost: Is NATO planning to intervene in Syria?
Russia’s draft of a UN Security Council resolution on the violence in Syria was circulated at the UN on Monday, which aimed to make it very clear nothing could justify military interference, the Associated Press reported.
"If some intend to use force at all cost … we can hardly prevent that from happening," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the AP reported. "But let them do it at their own initiative on their own conscience. They won't get any authorization from the UN Security Council."
Read more at GlobalPost: Russia drafts surprise UN resolution on Syria
Russia has accused western countries of trying to overthrow Assad. The country also rejected any criticism from the United States on Wednesday for its shipment of arms to Syria and said it was not acting illegally by supplying weapons to the country, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported.
“We don’t consider it necessary to explain or justify ourselves because we aren’t breaking any international agreements or UN Security Council resolutions,” Lavrov said, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported.
Russia has been one of Assad’s most vocal supporters of Assad, during the uprisings which have lasted for the last 10 months in Syria, Reuters reported. Protesters have called repeatedly for the president to step down. More than 5,000 civilians have been killed during the government crackdown.
In October, Russia joined China in vetoing a resolution supported by the West against Assad’s government, saying the domestic opposition shared blame for the violence and it would have opened the door to military intervention, Reuters reported.
Read more at GlobalPost: Fountains of blood in Syria as Russia vetoes UN resolution
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