MOSCOW: Russia said yesterday that it would be “political suicide” for the government of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to use chemical weapons against the armed opposition.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview released by the English-language state television channel RT that Assad had given Moscow repeated assurances he had no plans to order such an attack.
“I do not believe Syria would use chemical weapons,” Lavrov said in comments translated by the channel into English. “It would be a political suicide for the government if it does.”
Russia has remained Syria’s main ally throughout 21 months of bloodshed. It scuttled three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions against Assad and condemned Washington for recognising the Syrian opposition as the legitimate voice of the country’s citizens.
Moscow’s position has frustrated Western attempts to end the bloodshed by forcing Assad from power. Washington has also slammed Moscow’s continued military ties with Damascus.
Lavrov said Moscow checks on every report about the movement of Syrian chemical weapons with Damascus in order to make sure there was no danger of their possible use.
“Every time we hear rumours, or pieces of information come to surface that the Syrians are doing something with the chemical weapons, we double-check, we triple-check, we go directly to the government and all the time we get very firm assurances that this is not going to be used under any circumstances,” Lavrov said.
The Russian leadership has recently been releasing comments that suggest an easing of support for Assad. Moscow’s chief Middle East envoy said earlier this month that Russia realised that Assad may not be able to stand up against the rebel resistance much longer.
Moscow continues to press for a diplomatic solution to the conflict despite few signs of any dialogue leading to progress on the ground. Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Syrian peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi could visit Moscow before the end of the week following his talks in Damascus with Assad.
He said the two sides would “exchange views about the evolving situation in Syria.” “We hope that (the talks) bring concrete results and help resolve the stalemate,” Interfax quoted Gatilov as saying.
Afp
