US turns situation upside down when accuses Syria of reluctance to attend Geneve-2 without preconditions – Russian FM

The United States turns the situation upside down when accusing Syria  for reluctance to participate in the international conference Geneva-2 without preliminary conditions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said, the Voice of Russia correspondent Polina Chernitsa reports.

“Deputy for the [US State Department] spokesman has made another awkward statement that the difficulties in calling the Geneva-2 are allegedly related to the reluctance of the Syrian government   to participate in this forum without preliminary conditions. Such a statement is turning the entire situation upside down, to put it mildly,” Lukashevich said on Friday.

“The Syrian Authorities supported the Geneva communique of June 30, 2012 from the very beginning,” the diplomat said.

“The problem with organizing the calling of the Geneva-2 conference is namely that the “opposition” is not ready to participate in this forum and sets preliminary conditions for its involvement in the format, which are unacceptable for the Syrian authorities,” Lukashevich said.

“Our US colleagues, who told us repeatedly that they would pursue actively the participation of the Syrian “opposition” in the conference without preliminary conditions, are well aware of this,” Lukashevich said.

Russia wants unbiased UN inquiry into Syria chemical arms use

The Russian authorities hope to see a thorough and impartial investigation into possible instances of chemical weapons use in Syria, the Voice of Russia correspondent Polina Chernitsa reports.

“The Russian side welcomes the recently achieved agreements permitting a group of international experts to begin working in Syria, which, albeit a little belatedly, is opening the path for a thorough and impartial investigation into possible instances of chemical weapons use on Syrian territory,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

“This mission should be sent to Syria within the next few days. The UN experts will work there for 14 days, but their stay there may be prolonged if both sides [the Syrian government and the UN Secretariat] agree to it,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. 

UN chemical weapons experts may arrive in Syria on Friday 

The secretariat of the United Nations acknowledges that a team of chemical weapons inspectors may arrive in Damascus on Friday, but refuse to disclose details of their trip, citing “security concerns”.

M.D