MOSCOW, Sept 7 (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe urged Russia on Wednesday to shift its stance on Syria and support U.N. Security Council sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad's government over its crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
"As for Syria, our assessments unfortunately do not coincide," Juppe said after annual security talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and the two nations’ defence chiefs.
"The disproportionate response of the Syrian leadership" to the demonstrations had caused "irreparable bloodshed", Juppe told a joint news conference with the other ministers, speaking through an interpreter.
"We believe that this country must be sent a strong signal that the continuation of these actions is unacceptable," he said. "I hope Russia will support us in the Security Council, even though our positions now do not fully coincide."
France, Britain, the United States, Germany and Portugal circulated a draft resolution late last month that called for sanctions against Assad, influential relatives and close associates, but it met strong resistance from Russia and China.
Russian officials have said in recent months that they would not support any sanctions resolution on Syria, and have hinted Moscow might use its veto power as a permanent Security Council member to block passage of such a measure.
Lavrov gave no sign that Russia, which has sold arms to Syria and has a naval maintenance facility on its Mediterranean coast, intends to change its position.
He reiterated Moscow’s call for dialogue between the Syrian government and its opponents, who he said must refrain from "armed provocations".
Russia, which is wary of outside intervention in the politics of sovereign states in part because of accusations the Kremlin has backtracked on democracy in the past decade, has said Assad needs more time to carry out promised reforms.
Lavrov criticised Western sanctions on Syria but did not publicly embrace a plan voiced by Syria’s finance minister to sell the oil European customers cannot take under a new EU import ban to Russia or China.
"All I can say about the statement is that it was the statement of the Syrian finance minister," Lavrov said.
