Putin Warns West against Meddling in Syria, Medvedev Still Backs U.N. Solution
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Russian leaders under fire for a U.N. veto Wednesday rejected outside interference in the Syrian conflict, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warning against behaving "like a bull in a china shop."
"Of course we condemn violence from whichever side it comes, but we must not behave like a bull in a china shop. We need to allow people to decide their own fate independently," Putin said in televised remarks.
The Russian strongman, who is standing for a third presidential term on March 4, spoke after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for talks in Damascus on Tuesday.
Talking to religious leaders during his presidential campaign, Putin warned that intervention in Syria could lead to a situation similar to that in Libya after the overthrow of its leader Moammar Gadhafi.
"I know very well the quality of the regime in Libya and it was talked about a lot. But today for some reason no one shows or talks about what is happening in Sirte and other cities that supported the former leader," he said.
"Terrible crimes are happening there ... These are the awful consequences of outside interference, most of all when it is armed."
"No doubt we should give the peoples of these countries an opportunity to decide these problems independently," he was quoted as saying, referring to both Syria and Libya.
"Our task is to help them do it without any outside interference," he said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev later Wednesday urged further efforts to find a solution to the Syrian crisis, including at the United Nations Security Council.
Medvedev stressed "the necessity of continuing -- including at the U.N. Security Council -- a search for coordinated approaches to help the Syrians regulate the crisis themselves" , the Kremlin said in a statement.
In a phone call with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Medvedv said that the crisis must be resolved "without outside interference, with complete respect for the sovereignty of Syria," the Kremlin said.
Russia last week used its veto at the Security Council to block U.N. action on Syria, a decision that Medvedev described as justified, arguing the resolution would not have promoted a peaceful conclusion to the conflict.
The proposed resolution "did not allow us to make unbiased assessments of the situation in Syria or to ensure that the call for a ceasefire and an end to bloodshed was addressed to both sides," Medvedev was quoted as saying.
"Such a resolution would not have promoted the search for a peaceful way out of the crisis."
Russia's top diplomat Lavrov at a news conference earlier Wednesday after his return to Moscow from his talks in Damascus pointedly sidestepped a question from a reporter who asked him whether Russia had asked Assad to go.
"Any outcome of national dialogue should be the result of agreement between the Syrians themselves and should be acceptable to all Syrians," Lavrov told journalists.
All those who have influence over the Syrian opposition forces should urge them to start negotiations with Assad's government, he added.
Lavrov, who was given a hero's welcome by Assad's supporters in Damascus, also said that recalling envoys from Damascus would not help the Arab League's plan.
"I do not think that recalling ambassadors helps create conditions that would be favorable to the realization of the Arab League's plan, he said.
He said the Syrian people themselves must decide his fate and called for Syrian opposition forces to start negotiations with Assad's government to come up with a solution to the conflict that was acceptable to all Syrians.
Lavrov defended Russia's decision to reject the latest draft resolution, saying Moscow had prevented opposition armed units from taking control of more cities in Syria.
08 February 2012, 16:53
14
In the end you will be enjoying the cold water of the Black Sea. You screwed yourself in the Med now. Say good bye to your navy base.
This is no time for little anecdotes when there is a slaughter happening.
08 February 2012, 17:47
00
This Putin is a nut head like his predecessors in the USSR. he himself faked winning his reelection and refusd to recount or repeat the election process. He is a short, brainless and ignorant sun of a gun who thrives on self-admiration. He's so out of touch and is the same dictator his predecessors were. He knows not anything about mercy. But sooner or later his last fortitude (Syria) will be history and will come begging for acceptance. Unfortunately, it would be too late. Russia is a bubble. The Russian people who are drastically poor because of him are scattered all over the world working their butts out for a piece of bread and he's acting like his country is a superpower. What amazes me though is his counterparts, the American, who are playing the smart game of blaming him for the impasse on UN resolution. Everyone knows that the USA doesn't want to stop violence in Syria even if all the Syrian are killed because this suits Israel who thrives on Arabs killing each others.
08 February 2012, 17:54
12
"We need to allow people to decide their own fate independently."
Hopefully, Russian people very soon are going to decide their own fate by voting to get rid of you, Mr. Putin. The world will be much better place without psychos like you and your friend Bashar.
08 February 2012, 19:20
13
This is fantasy land talk. In Syria, the Assad Regime and the Opposition are in a death grip to which neither can let go without the other being dead first. No one is going to commit suicide.
The Russian Veto at the UN on Saturday was a death warrant issued to the Syrian people and/or the Syrian regime. No one will be spared in the fight that is to come, the Russian led frustration to a negotiated resolution has insured war in Syria and much death and suffering to the Syrian people.
Let us hope that the Russian veto does not mean that the contagian let loose in Syria, which will be sectarian, does not spread to infect the whole region. Thank you Mr. Putin! Thank you for making the virus of the Assad Regime's spreading and killing more innocents when we had a chance to end it, and bring about a peaceful resolution with a UN Vote.
Assad may not have decided to carry on without his Russian shield.
08 February 2012, 20:22
21
Watch this, then ask that question again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXS3vW47mOE
08 February 2012, 20:22
21
Watch this, then ask that question again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXS3vW47mOE
09 February 2012, 09:27
01
what "heavy arms" idiot, there are no artillery or tanks but onky simple arms with the defectors. I hope this would be the case one day and heavy arms flow to make the fight even, you would then see the rebels in damascus, it will happen btw, it will take long but it will.
09 February 2012, 09:30
01
I really dont think the russians have a clue what to do, they just want to oppose the west cause they were kicked out of libya and do not want to lose syria next. The US does not have to give the russians the fancy bill they are asking for to obtain their approval, the americans (and any logical person) knows that time is not on the regime's side: just imagine the size of defection, the number of enemies, and the state of the economy in syria 6 months from now and you would know that the fall of the regime, as we know it, is a mathematical certainty. It might convert after that to a bigt militia in latakia and the coast.
09 February 2012, 12:54
10
beiruti i can only pray what you have said leads to more death and a Greater civil war for the most deserving people of syria.I couldnt have happened to a more deserving people may they have endless more of what they deserve and NO end in sight.Thank you
