Medvedev Says Calls on Assad to Quit 'Short-Sighted'

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday it was "short-sighted" to think that the crisis in Syria would be solved if President Bashar al-Assad agreed to Western calls to step down.

"To think that Assad's departure would mean the removal of all the problems is a very short-sighted position and everyone understands that if this happened the conflict would most likely continue," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Medvedev as telling Russian reporters at a summit in Seoul.

Medvedev added that he wanted "the Syrian people, and not respected leaders of other states, to make the decisions about Syria's fate."

He said Syria should at all costs avoid the fate of Libya where NATO carried out air strikes that played a key role in the downfall of Moammar Gadhafi despite Kremlin protests.

"There is no democracy there," Medvedev was quoted as saying. "There is no Gadhafi there but there is no democracy there either, no-one knows how long this will last. This state has yet to remain on the map as a single entity."

Libya, with only embryonic state institutions, is going through a tough post-conflict period, and the unilateral proclamation of independence by figures in eastern Libya has revived fears of a partition of the country.

Western powers have repeatedly urged Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto powers and a key ally of Syria, to use its influence with Assad's regime to persuade it to end a deadly crackdown on protesters in Syria.

Russia had blocked two resolutions on Syria, but last week backed a Western-drafted statement that called on Assad to work toward a cessation of hostilities and a democratic transition.

Washington has suggested Russia's position on Syria might have evolved over the past months but the Kremlin counters that its stance on the conflict has never changed.

Analysts however say signs are multiplying that Moscow is beginning to show signs of losing patience with Assad despite Russia's economic and political interests in the region.

Medvedev had told Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria, in Moscow on Sunday that his peace plan was the last chance for avoiding a bloody and protracted civil war.

Russia meanwhile said it would again skip the second Friends of Syria conference to be held this weekend in Istanbul, saying the meeting openly sided with the regime's opposition.

"The first such meeting was staged on February 24 in Tunis without our involvement," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.

"This time we again intend to refrain from being involved, even though we received the corresponding invitation."

U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton has confirmed her attendance on Sunday. The meeting is expected to approve a joint U.S.-Turkish initiative to provide medical and other "non-lethal" aid such as communication equipment to the rebels.

Lukashevich said "meetings of this type unfortunately tend to be one-sided" and do little to help end the year-long crisis through negotiations.

"Rather, they tend to act in a destructive manner, hurting the course of positive changes that are associated with Mr. Annan's mission."