Lavrov Meets Mansour: Russia to Support Ultimatum-Free U.N. Statement on Syria

Russia said Tuesday it was willing to support either a U.N. Security Council statement or a resolution on peace envoy Kofi Annan's mission to Syria as long as it contained no ultimatums.

"We are ready to back the mission of U.N. and Arab League representative Kofi Annan and the proposals to the government and opposition to Syria," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after holding talks with his Lebanese counterpart Adnan Mansour.

"We are ready to support his proposals to the U.N. Security Council, and not only in the form of a statement but also a resolution," he said.

But Lavrov also stressed that the proposals Annan made to Syrian President Bashar Assad during their meetings in Damascus this month had still not been published and needed to be put up for an open debate at the Security Council.

"First of all, these proposals must be published," Lavrov said.

"Second of all, the Security Council should approve them not as an ultimatum but with consideration for the work that is ongoing, and approve them as the basis for Kofi Annan's continuing efforts to achieve agreement between all Syrians."

The U.N. Security Council was expected later Tuesday to discuss and possibly vote on a Western-drafted statement on Syria that diplomats said called for possible "further measures" if Assad failed to carry out Annan's proposals.