Ryabkov: US Syria Policies within UNSC Illogical

 MOSCOW- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has stressed that Washington’s attempts to persuade the UN Security Council (UNSC) to adopt a resolution that would contain threats against Syria are illogical, according to the Voice of Russia.

 In the Russian State Duma, the lower chamber of Russia’s parliament, Ryabkov said on Tuesday, “the Syrian side has clearly demonstrated its goodwill to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. In this situation, the Americans’ attempts, which are vigorously supported by the British and French, to push the UN Security Council toward adopting a resolution that would contain an immediate threat against Syria appear to be illogical.”

Ryabkov: UN experts to return to Syria on September 25

Ryabkov said The United Nation’s chemical weapons experts are expected to return to Syria on September 25.

“We are pleased that our persistent calls for the return of UN experts to Syria to investigate other instances of chemical weapons use have produced results. The latest information available indicates that Salstrom’s group will leave for Damascus tomorrow, September 25,” Ryabkov clarified.

Russian Foreign Ministry against UNSC Syria resolution with automatic sanctions

Ryabkov also said that any UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution should not contain automatic sanctions that might be applied should the Syrian chemical weapons disarmament deal be broken.

“A UNSC resolution ought to come as a follow-up to the appropriate decisions made by Executive Council of the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons). I repeat once again that adopting a UNSC resolution enforcing Article 7 of the UN Charter or automatically applying sanctions, let alone military force, is out of the question,” he stressed.

The Russian diplomat pointed out that the US Congress members’ refusal to meet with Russian parliamentarians, who planned to visit the United States to discuss the Syrian crisis, highlights the weakness of Washington’s stance on this topic.

“The American side’s failure to respond to this initiative, which was effectively blocked by it, indicates the weakness of Washington’s arguments and possibly the absence of the required support within the American Congress for the US administration’s plans,” he said.

Pushkov: There are limits for Moscow Cooperation with the US

Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov said that Russia will not give the nod to a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force against Syria.

At an Open Rostrum roundtable in the State Duma on Tuesday, Pushkov criticized the argument that Russia can only do something real in cooperation with the leading Western states and described it as dangerous.

“Yes, we must walk this way as we did (cooperating with the leading Western states) and this tendency should be consolidated. I agree. But the cooperative spirit must have its limits. We demonstrated maximum willingness to cooperate on Libya. The result is well known: We lost absolutely everything we could there, including in terms of image,” Pushkov said.

Russia has been opposing for two and a half years the adoption of a resolution that would authorize air strikes against Syria. Due to this Russia has gained much in terms of image, he said.

“We are demonstrating that we can do quite a lot,” he added. “What is meant here is the resolve to pursue our own line. Yes, Russia will be cooperative with the United States as much as possible and for as long as possible. But there are limits to this,” Pushkov said.

H. Mustafa