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Voice of Russia
Moscow calls ideas of humanitarian corridors, Syria no-fly zone destructive The Russian Foreign Ministry has objected to initiatives aimed at creating humanitarian corridors and declaring a no-fly zone over Syria, adding that such decisions could be adopted only by the UN Security Council. "Regrettably, such destructive ideas keep appearing from time to time, but no one has ever taken the trouble of thinking about their consequences. In our opinion, such decisions could be adopted exclusively by the UN Security Council," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax ahead of a May 16-19 visit to Moscow by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. "Any other measures will be absolutely illegitimate," the diplomat said. "We will make our position known to the UN secretary general, who understands that decisions on this issue could be adopted exclusively by the [UN] Security Council member states," he said. "But, as the Libyan situation has shown, Security Council resolutions can be interpreted too loosely and can be made to serve certain political goals. We all remember that the arms embargo imposed on Libya was used by many countries to supply weapons to one of the sides in the conflict, and the no-fly zone, which was created to protect the civilian population, became an instrument for dismantling the country's infrastructure," the deputy minister said. "The results can still be seen, bearing in mind the present-day processes in Libya. That is why we are very closely following any new suggestions related to this matter," he said. Gatilov's full interview will appear on the www.interfax.ru website. Conference on Syria should be held in near future - Gatilov Russia expects a conference on Syria to be held over the next few weeks. A statement to this effect was made by Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov ahead of the forthcoming visit to Moscow by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is expected to visit the Russian capital on May 16th through 19th . A conference on Syria is necessary to secure the implementation of the agreements signed in Geneva on June 30th 2012. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the forthcoming meeting on Syria during their meeting in Moscow last week. The two leaders came to agreement on the need to encourage the Syrian government and Syria’s opposition groups to resolve the crisis through negotiations. The UN secretary-general also favors a political solution to the Syrian crisis saying that there is no alternative to a diplomatic solution of the conflict in Syria, Gatilov said. Read more: http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_05_14/Conference-on-Syria-should-be-held-in-near-future-Gatilov/ The situation in Syria has a tendency towards worsening, and this is an object of concern for Russia, press secretary of the Russian head of state Dmitry Peskov told newsmen Monday. Peskov finds it somewhat premature to speak about the participation of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in the planned international conference on the settlement of the situation in Syria and says that everything will depend on the format of this event. Last week Moscow and Washington came up with a joint initiative to hold an international conference on Syria on the platform of the Geneva Communique, so that the Syrian authorities and the opposition would be able to begin the talks. Peskov confirmed that the situation around Syria would feature prominently at a meeting between President Putin and Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, May 14th. Besides, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will also discuss Syria settlement in Moscow on May 16th-19th, with due regard for Russia’s important role in international affairs. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit Russia in May UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon plans a visit to Russia from May 16 to May 19, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. It will be Ban's sixth visit to Russia. He last came in April 2011. Ban is expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin on May 17 and will also have talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "The planned discussions will focus on key international problems, among them the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, including the crisis in Syria, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the United Nations' assistance in the conflict settlement process in Mali, developments surrounding Kosovo, the situation in Central Asia and the Transcaucasus, the Cypriot settlement process, and issues of terrorism prevention," the Russian Foreign Ministry told Interfax. There will also be detailed discussions on the United Nations' economic activities, with special attention paid to planned interaction between Russia as president of the Group of 20 and the United Nations. The ministry said Russia pursues a consistent policy of seeking the central role for the United Nations in global affairs, the supremacy of law in international relations, and compliance with fundamental principles of the UN Charter, with the Security Council bearing the main responsibility for international peace and security. "We believe that the United Nations and its Security Council are effective mechanisms of maintaining a stable system of international relations that is based on respect, equality and mutually beneficial cooperation between nations that use civilized political instruments as the chief means of resolving global and regional crisis situations. An important role in the pursuit of a balanced line that takes account of the lawful interests of all UN member states belongs to the UN secretary-general as the chief administrative official of the Organization," the ministry said.
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