Russian envoy slams UN resolution on Syria as “unbalanced”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia believes the UN General Assembly’s resolution on Syria is an attempt to impose a form of political settlement on the country, Russia’s envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said, RIA Novosti reported.

The UN General Assembly on Thursday, Feb 16, adopted a non-binding resolution condemning Syria’s authorities for human rights violations and calling on President Bashar al-Assad to step down. In the 193-member Assembly, 137 countries voted for the resolution and 12 against with 17 abstentions.

Russia and China voted against the resolution, which was similar to one the two countries vetoed on February 4 in the UN Security Council triggering angry reaction from the West. Belarus, Zimbabwe, Cuba, North Korea, Iran and a few other states also said “no” to the draft on Thursday.

Churkin said after the vote the draft resolution was “unbalanced” and reflected “the tendencies that cause our concerns: attempts to isolate the Syrian leadership, reject any contacts with it and impose a political settlement formula from outside.”

The Russian envoy also said Russia had voted against because its amendments to the draft resolution had not been adopted.

In particular, he said, Russia proposed including in the resolution a call on “all opposition forces in Syria to distance themselves from violent armed groups” and on those groups to “stop attacking residential neighborhoods and government institutions,” as well as a call on government troops to leave cities and towns.

When the amendments were not considered, Churkin said, Russia had no other choice than to vote against the draft.