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RUSSIA REJECTS DEADLINE FOR ANNAN'S SYRIA PEACE PLAN
http://tehrantimes.com/world/96533-russia-rejects-deadline-for-annans-syria-peace-plan/
On Line: 03 April 2012 14:17
In Print: Wednesday 04 April 2012
Russia on Monday rejected Arab and Western calls for a deadline to
be set for the Syrian government's implementation of a peace plan
put forward by international mediator Kofi Annan.
"Ultimatums and artificial deadlines rarely help matters," Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said while on a visit to the former Soviet
nation of Armenia.
Lavrov added that only the UN Security Council on which Russia wields
veto power could put any time restrictions on Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad's compliance with the six-point initiative.
"Annan has a Security Council mandate and it is up to the UN Security
Council to decide who is complying with this plan and how," he said.
The so-called "Friends of Syria" meeting of Arab and Western nations in
Istanbul agreed this weekend to ask the United Nations to give Assad a
deadline to cooperate with Annan's solution to the year-long conflict.
The plan itself demands that Assad pull out his forces from major
flashpoint cities and introduce a daily two-hour ceasefire that
could let aid workers deliver supplies and treat the thousands of
injured civilians.
But it puts forward no time frame in which Assad has to comply.
Lavrov said the peace plan would not work unless rebel forces also
agreed to halt fire.
"The demands should be put to all sides of the barricades," Lavrov
said.
"We intend to be friends with both sides in Syria," he added in
reference to Russia's past support for Assad.
The Russian foreign ministry had earlier issued a statement saying
the "Friends of Syria" meet contradicted the objective of reaching
a peaceful settlement by openly siding with the opposition.
"The promises and intentions to deliver direct military and logistical
support to the armed... opposition that were voiced in Istanbul
unquestionably contradict the goals of a peaceful settlement to the
civil conflict in Syria," the foreign ministry statement said.
Russia has been under mounting Western pressure to break its ties
with the Damascus leadership and call on Assad to step down.
http://tehrantimes.com/world/96533-russia-rejects-deadline-for-annans-syria-peace-plan/
On Line: 03 April 2012 14:17
In Print: Wednesday 04 April 2012
Russia on Monday rejected Arab and Western calls for a deadline to
be set for the Syrian government's implementation of a peace plan
put forward by international mediator Kofi Annan.
"Ultimatums and artificial deadlines rarely help matters," Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said while on a visit to the former Soviet
nation of Armenia.
Lavrov added that only the UN Security Council on which Russia wields
veto power could put any time restrictions on Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad's compliance with the six-point initiative.
"Annan has a Security Council mandate and it is up to the UN Security
Council to decide who is complying with this plan and how," he said.
The so-called "Friends of Syria" meeting of Arab and Western nations in
Istanbul agreed this weekend to ask the United Nations to give Assad a
deadline to cooperate with Annan's solution to the year-long conflict.
The plan itself demands that Assad pull out his forces from major
flashpoint cities and introduce a daily two-hour ceasefire that
could let aid workers deliver supplies and treat the thousands of
injured civilians.
But it puts forward no time frame in which Assad has to comply.
Lavrov said the peace plan would not work unless rebel forces also
agreed to halt fire.
"The demands should be put to all sides of the barricades," Lavrov
said.
"We intend to be friends with both sides in Syria," he added in
reference to Russia's past support for Assad.
The Russian foreign ministry had earlier issued a statement saying
the "Friends of Syria" meet contradicted the objective of reaching
a peaceful settlement by openly siding with the opposition.
"The promises and intentions to deliver direct military and logistical
support to the armed... opposition that were voiced in Istanbul
unquestionably contradict the goals of a peaceful settlement to the
civil conflict in Syria," the foreign ministry statement said.
Russia has been under mounting Western pressure to break its ties
with the Damascus leadership and call on Assad to step down.