In These New Times

SANA

11th October, 2012

MOSCOW, (SANA) – Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, stressed on Wednesday that Russia will defend the principles of the UN Charter regarding solving the crisis in Syria and settling the Iranian nuclear file.

Russia Today website reported Lavrov as saying before the Russian Federation Council that arbitrary interpretations of the general principles of the UN Charter such as preventing the use and threat of force, resorting to peaceful solutions to pending issues, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries and non-interference in the internal affairs constitute a threat to the global system.

Lavrov added that Russia will continue its persistence on the sovereignty of law in the international issues, pointing out that his country is exerting efforts to search for means to solve crisis in Syria and the Iranian nuclear file.

The Russian Foreign Minister expressed Moscow’s readiness for holding the second meeting of the action group on Syria at any time.

“We are ready to hold this meeting at any time but we realize that it should be prepared to,” said Lavrov, noting that when Russia last August proposed holding a meeting for the group to stress the necessity to implement Geneva statement and most importantly for the members to take upon themselves to influence the two parties to the conflict in Syria, its partners were not ready for that.

In the same context, Lavrov said that Syria and Turkey should engage into a direct dialogue to settle the situation after the incident which took place on the border early October.

He added that the Syrian side “is interested in regaining contact with Turkey”, expressing hope that Ankara too is ready to communicate with Damascus.

Lavrov noted that the UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, will formulate, after having visited Damascus, ideas for “settling the conflict” in the country based on Geneva statement.

“Brahimi visited the region and Damascus, and now is heading to the region again. Afterwards, he’ll formulate ideas that will be based, as he told me in New York, on the main points of Geneva meeting, which is absolutely correct,” said Lavrov.

On the Iranian issue, the Russian Foreign Minister warned of the dangerous repercussions that would result from launching military strikes against Iran, hoping that there would be no such strikes.

He considered that such developments, if happened, “would be the nearest way towards undermining the efforts seeking to settle all the issues regarding the Iranian nuclear file.”

F.Allafi/H.Said