Lavrov: No Preconditions for Solving Syria Crisis

Local Editor

Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov stressed that no preconditions or pretexts must be set as a top priority for solving the crisis in Syria.

In a statement on Friday, Lavrov said: ''If our priority is saving the lives of people, so we have to say that combat operations should be stopped without preconditions.''
He further criticized those who insist that President Bashar al-Assad steps down , adding ''those who say that al-Assad has to resign before anything else have to shoulder responsibility for more Syrian victims who will fall and the endurance of the crisis.''
''They have to understand that al-Assad has made up his mind and has publicly declared his intention when he vowed to live and die in Syria, '' Lavrov said, and noted: "He won't give an ear to Russia, China, Iran or any other in this.'"

In parallel, the Russian top diplomat reiterated that his country is not defending persons but rather cares for the fate of Syrian citizens.
On a different note, Lavrov warned that any measures that may be adopted by the UN Security Council on Syria can and will be promptly seized for outside intervention.
Lavrov pointed to the divisions among the Syrian opposition which is working against the Syrian government in parallel with armed terrorist groups.
In this context, he recalled that the US acknowledged one of these groups is terrorist, which, he said, ''had infuriated the Doha Coalition.''
Criticizing the Syrian opposition, Lavrov said that it has not presented a constructive political plan for solving the crisis in Syria, adding ''they say nothing save that the President must leave.''

''The western and Gulf states and Turkey have exerted efforts to unify the opposition, and the Coalition was formed,'' Lavrov said, ''Nonetheless, the opposition's political doctrine remains unconstructive.''
''Unless the Syrian opposition lays down its political vision on Syria's future, we cannot understand whether it is unified or not, '' he added.
Moreover, Lavrov highlighted the necessity of preserving the rights of the Syrian people in all its components ''prior to discussing the personalities and structure of the Syrian leadership,'' considering it an important step in any national dialogue.
Meanwhile, he affirmed that there are no Russian military advisors in Syria or elsewhere, stressing that Russia doesn't send advisors to Syria or any other place, and that it's likely that other countries do such things, like the United States which openly announced that it sent individuals who train the Syrian opposition at the Turkish-Syrian borders.
He said that a number European and regional countries have deployed military units in areas where militants are active in Syria, and Russia knows this.
Lavrov also reiterated that there are no Russia military personnel in Syria except a few dozen technicians in a facility in Tartous use for supplying and maintaining Russian vessels.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org