MOSCOW - Russia lashed out at the United States on Wednesday for recognising an opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, saying it ran against agreements to seek political transition in the Middle Eastern nation.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he was surprised by the
move and that it appeared the United States was betting on
“armed victory” of the opposition over Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad’s government.
“This contradicts the agreements set in the Geneva
communique that proposes the start of all-Syrian dialogue
between the representatives named by the government on the one
side and the opposition on the other,” Lavrov said.
Brahimi is seeking a solution based on the June 30 Geneva
Declaration, which called for a transitional government to
defuse a 20-month-old uprising against Assad.
“During consultations that took place three days ago in
Geneva, we thought the Americans understood the necessity of
creating conditions for all-Syrian dialogue to include
government members too,” Lavrov said.
“So for us it is quite an unexpected turn and we will seek
to clarify what exactly they (the United States) have in mind.”
Speaking days after meetings between officials from
veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council members Russia,
the United States and international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi,
Lavrov suggested it would undermine diplomatic efforts to end
the conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people.
