Itar-Tass
September 18, 2013
Russia and China agree to continue coordination of efforts to resolve Syrian crisis
MOSCOW: Russia and China have agreed to further coordinate their efforts within the United Nations Security Council and other international organizations to resolve the Syrian problem, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday after a meeting between Russian president’s Middle East envoy and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov with China’s Ambassador to Moscow Li Hui.
The two diplomats “discussed the development of the situation around Syria in the context of the tasks of the soonest implementation of the Russia-US agreements on the Syrian chemical weapons and the launch of the political settlement process in Syria on the basis of the Geneva communiqué· of June 30, 2012 by means of convening an international conference on Syria,” the ministry said.
“The sides reiterated their commitment to continue close and efficient coordination of Russia’s and China’s efforts on the Syrian problem within the United Nations Security Council and in other international formats,” the ministry noted.
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Xinhua News Agency
September 18, 2013
Chinese, Russian FMs discuss Syria crisis on phone
BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, had a comprehensive and in-depth exchange of views on the Syria crisis via phone on Tuesday, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Wang said China welcomes the Russia-U.S. deal on Syria, hoping that the accord could be implemented as soon as possible.
The Chinese side holds the belief that a military approach cannot solve the conflict, Wang said, adding that China will continue to contribute to facilitating a political solution to the crisis and make due efforts.
Lavrov appreciated China’s stand. Both sides agreed to keep close contacts and coordination on the issue.
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Itar-Tass
September 18, 2013
Russia supports Syria and country’s counteraction to terror
BEIRUT: The Syrian people “values highly Russia’s position and the country’s support to counteract any hostile acts and terror,” Syrian President Bashar Assad stated on Wednesday, adding that Russia’s stance “resurrects hope for a new balance of power on the global arena.”
Assad received Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Damascus on Wednesday.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said at the 68th session of the UN General Assembly that Russia believes that the evidence suggesting that the chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21could be a provocation must be thoroughly looked into,
Syrian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari said on Thursday, September 12 that Syria has become a full member of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
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Interfax
September 18, 2013
Damascus provides new info on opposition’s involvement in chemical weapons use – Ryabkov
DAMASCUS: Syria has provided Russian experts with additional evidence that the opposition used chemical weapons and it can be considered “very convincing,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
“There is some confusion in this regard. We received additional proof, which had been gathered and analyzed by the Syrian authorities. They consider it to be evidence of chemical weapons use by the so-called Syrian opposition in eastern Ghouta on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th,” Ryabkov told reporters in Damascus on Wednesday.
“This is not news, this is not what makes headlines,” Ryabkov said.
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Russian Information Agency Novosti
September 18, 2013
Russia to Submit Its Syria Chemical Attack Findings to UN
VALDAI: Moscow will soon submit to the United Nations findings indicating that the Syrian opposition had used chemical weapons during the deadly civil war, the Russian foreign minister said Wednesday.
“Reports about the use of chemical weapons [in Syria] reflect the fact that the opposition regularly resorts to provocations seeking to trigger [foreign military] strikes and intervention in Syria. We have enough evidence [to prove it],” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during the 10th annual meeting of the Valdai Club, a Kremlin-backed discussion forum that brings together Russian and foreign politicians, academics and other public figures.
“We have information related to the incidents that took place in August in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, a lot of information. We will take it all to the UN Security Council,” he added.
UN inspectors said Monday that they had found “clear and convincing evidence” that chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, were used in an August 21 attack in Ghouta that killed hundreds of people.
The US and some of its Western allies have attributed the attack to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, but Moscow and Syria have repeatedly called it a provocation by anti-Assad rebels.
Lavrov said Syrian officials had handed over evidence indicating the opposition’s possible involvement in the chemical attack to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who is currently on a visit to Damascus.
“I haven’t familiarized myself with it yet, but I’m convinced that the experts would work with it and, of course, we would submit it to the UN Security Council,” Lavrov said.
Ryabkov traveled to Damascus to discuss Syria’s compliance with the US-Russian plan to place Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles under international control.
“We expect all the sides to honor this deal,” Lavrov said.
According to a Valdai Club participant, political expert Gleb Pavlovsky, Lavrov said Russia had no plans of pressing for Assad’s resignation.
“Lavrov refuses to persuade Assad to leave [his post]. Moscow has no experience of political engineering like that,” Pavlovsky wrote on his Facebook page.
On September 14, after days of intense negotiations, Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry announced an ambitious plan under which all chemical weapons in Syria would be made available to international inspectors by November and destroyed by mid-2014.
Two days later, it became evident that the two states differ in their approaches to the plan.
The United States is pushing for a UN Security Council resolution that would allow the use of military force against Syria in response to its failure to comply with the plan, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday, hours after Lavrov said that option was a nonstarter.
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Interfax
September 18, 2013
Moscow to send to UN SC proof that insurgents used chemical weapons in Ghouta – Lavrov
MOSCOW: Russia intends to provide the proof, provided by Damascus, that the opposition used chemical weapons in eastern Ghouta near Damascus, to the UN Security Council.
“Of course, we will provide all of this to the UN Security Council,” Russian Foreign Minister told reporters following his speech at the Valdai Discussion Club.
This proof has been given to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Damascus.
Lavrov said that the materials given to Ryabkov confirm that the events in Ghouta on August 21 were of a provocative character. At the same time, Lavrov said he had not yet studied these materials but was certain experts would deal with them.
“We have enough evidence that the reports on chemical weapons reflect the fact that the opposition frequently resorts to such provocations in order to cause strikes [and foreign military] intervention. There is a lot of information. It is widely accessible on the Internet. This information is stipulated in the report our experts prepared on the events related to the use of chemical weapons in Aleppo in March 2013. And indeed there is a lot of information regarding the incidents, which took place in the Ghouta district near Damascus in August. We will consider all of this in the [UN] Security Council together with the report, which has been provided by UN experts, confirming the fact that chemical weapons were used. And it will be found out who did this,” Lavrov said.
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