Russia ready to support Annan proposals on Syria crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia is ready to support a UN Security Council resolution on Syria based on UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s proposals on how to resolve the crisis in the Arab country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday, March 20, RIA Novosti reported.

“We are ready to support Kofi Annan’s mission and proposals that he has passed to the Syrian side in the UN Security Council as a resolution, not even as a statement,” Lavrov told journalists in Moscow. “Obviously, those proposals should first be published,” he said.

Former UN Secretary General Annan travelled to Syria last weekend to try to persuade President Bashar al-Assad to stop his crackdown on protesters, allow humanitarian aid to be supplied to violence-hit areas in Syria and launch a dialogue with opposition forces.

He left Damascus on March 11 without a deal, but said he had offered Assad “concrete proposals” and felt optimistic about his mission. Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said last week Damascus was interested in the success Annan's mission.

Lavrov said the Security Council should approve Annan’s proposals “not as an ultimatum;” it should “take into consideration the ongoing work and approve them as the basis for Kofi Annan’s efforts aimed at achieving reconciliation between all Syrians on all essential questions,” he said.

At the same time, he said, the Annan mission should not repeat the fate of the Arab League, which was frozen shortly after Arab monitors began working in Syria late last year.

Lavrov said he believed recent terrorist attacks in Syria were aimed at disrupting Annan’s efforts to restore peace in the country.