Russia unwilling to back action against Syria

RUSSIA insisted that it would not back sanctions on Syria and accused the West of suffocating the Iranian economy as it warned against military intervention targeting either regime.

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov indicated Russia’s willingness to wield its veto on the UN Security Council as Moscow sharpens its foreign policy line ahead of Vladimir Putin’s planned return to the Kremlin this year.

“For us, the red line is fairly clearly drawn. We will not support any sanctions” against Syria, Lavrov said, complaining that the West introduced measures against Damascus without consulting Russia or China.

His comments came as diplomats in Brussels said EU foreign ministers are set to slap fresh sanctions on Syria next week, adding 22 individuals and eight companies to the blacklist.

Russia has irked the West with its position on Syria as forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad press with a crackdown on protesters, in violence that the UN estimates has killed more than 5,000 people.

Moscow has insisted the Syrian opposition is as much to blame for the violence as the regime, a position it has asserted in a UN Security Council resolution, but has received a cool Western reception.

Western criticism failed to take into account the actions of “the armed extremist opposition against administrative buildings, hospitals, schools, and the acts of terror that are being carried out,” he said.

“Why do we need to stay silent about this? The approach of our Western partners is one-sided,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov indicated Russia would use its UN Security Council veto to block any military intervention in Syria, after Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani’s suggested sending in Arab troops.

“We will hardly be able to prevent [force] if someone really wants to do something like that. But let that be on their own initiative and rest on their conscience.

“They will not receive any mandate from the UN Security Council,” Lavrov said.

He issued a similarly stern warning over the risks of a military attack on Iran over its nuclear drive, saying it would have the “severest consequences” for the Middle East.

“As for the chances of this catastrophe happening, you would have to ask those constantly mentioning it as an option that remains on the table,” he said.

Lavrov said that Moscow had in the past backed UN sanctions against the Iranian nuclear and missile industries but said Russia rejected sanctions targeting Iran’s wider economy.

He indicated Russian suspicions that Western economic sanctions were aimed at sparking discontent inside the country, which has been run by an anti-US Islamic regime for over three decades.

“It is seriously aimed at suffocating the Iranian economy and the well-being of its people, probably in the hope of inciting discontent.”

Moscow’s relations with Iran warmed after the collapse of the Soviet Union based on common energy interests and a shared distrust of the West.