WarSclerotic

Russia warns of ‘scandal’ in UN Syria vo… JPost – International.

By Mike Segar / Reuters

MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned of a “scandal” if a Western-Arab drafted resolution comes to a vote on Saturday in the UN Security Council, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The remarks, which Itar-Tass said Lavrov made in an interview to be aired later on state-run Rossiya-1 television, suggest Russia would likely veto the resolution if its latest proposed amendments were not taken into account.

“If they want another scandal for themselves in the Security Council, then we probably cannot stop them,” Lavrov said, according to Itar-Tass. Rossiya-1 said the interview was recorded early on Saturday.

Lavrov said he hoped the draft would not come to a vote without changes “because our amendments to this draft are well-known.”

“I sent them to (US Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton yesterday, and to our representative at the United Nations to convey them to our partners,” Lavrov was quoted as saying.

“The reasonableness and objectivity of these amendments should not raise any doubts. I hope that a prejudiced view does not prevail over common sense.”

At the United Nations, the Security Council was due to meet at 10 a.m. to vote on a draft resolution endorsing an Arab League plan calling for Assad to resign.

It was unclear if Russia, which has opposed significant council action on Syria would vote in favor, abstain or veto it.

Western diplomats in New York said the latest violence might make it more difficult for Russia to block it. “Would they dare, with what is happening in Homs?” one diplomat told Reuters.

The British UN mission posted on Twitter: “After the horror in Homs Friday (it is) vital all Council members back (the) resolution.”

Russia has balked at any language that would open to door to “regime change” in Syria, its crucial Middle East ally where Moscow operates a naval base.

This entry was posted on February 4, 2012 at 11:48 AM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.