Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference in Belgrade, Serbia on Thursday that the real goal of the West-brokered United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria is “to shift the peace process" and blame "the Syrian government in order to promote ‘plan B,’ namely overthrowing the regime in violation of resolution 2257.” As an alternative to U.N.-led talks in Geneva, Russia has spearheaded the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, also known as the Sochi Congress. This has been attended by Turkey-backed forces against Syrian government Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian government's main allies, Russia, Iran, and representatives of civil society, ethnic and religious groups. In spite of the parallel efforts and Russian suspicion over the political objectives of U.N.-led Syrian efforts, Lavrov said Russia is “ready to consider this proposal,” but stressed that a ceasefire cannot include the Islamic State and the Jabhat al-Nusra terror groups. Lavrov's comments were aimed at a draft resolution presented by Sweden and Kuwait to establish a 30-day ceasefire in Syria for the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical evacuation. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, their Western partners are not interested in removing the two terror organizations from the ceasefire, which ”raises certain questions,” and reminded Security Council members that Russian forces in Syria “offered militants to leave Eastern Ghouta peacefully... Jabhat al-Nusra and those who interact with them flatly refused this offer.” Russia called for a U.N. meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation in Eastern Ghouta where the Syrian government has led attacks against militants who have attacked Damascus from that enclave. Source URL |
