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Moscow Slams U.S., UK for ‘Unacceptable’ U.N. Statements, Retains Hope for Syria Solution | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Russian President Vladimir Putin enters the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, on December 12, 2013, to deliver an annual state of the nation address. AFP photo


Moscow Slams U.S., UK for ‘Unacceptable’ U.N. Statements, Retains Hope for Syria Solution

by | Sep 26, 2016 | Middle East |

Moscow Slams U.S., UK for ‘Unacceptable’ U.N. Statements, Retains Hope for Syria Solution

Moscow on Monday slammed the United States and Britain for accusing Russia of “barbarism” and war crimes in Syria and stressed it is not losing hope for a political solution to the country’s crisis.

“We note the overall unacceptable tone and rhetoric of the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States, which can damage and harm our relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He said such rhetoric is also capable of causing serious harm to the resolution process in Syria.

Moscow and Damascus were repeatedly accused of war crimes at Sunday’s emergency session of the U.N. Security Council to demand that Russia rein in its long-standing ally, the head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad.

“In short, it is difficult to deny, that Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes,” British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said, adding that incendiary munitions “indiscriminate in their reach” were being used against Aleppo civilians.

Rycroft added that Moscow and the Syrian regime had “unleashed a new hell” on the battered Syrian city.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power meanwhile accused Moscow of “barbarism.”

Russia’s ambassador to the U.N., Vitaly Churkin, on Sunday accused Washington of failing to convince armed opposition groups it supports to distance themselves from the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and abide by a short-lived ceasefire brokered earlier this month by Russia and the United States.

Churkin however said that reviving the ceasefire was still a goal that Moscow could pursue if it was part of a “collective” effort on all sides.

Peskov said Monday that the ceasefire has “little effect” but the Kremlin is not ready to bury it quite yet.

“Moscow is not losing the hope and political will to use maximum efforts to reach the point of political settlement in Syria,” he said. “So far it’s been hard.”

Aleppo, divided since mid-2012 between regime control in the west and rebel control in the east, has seen some of its worst fighting in years over the last week, raising widespread international concern.

Peskov also told reporters that the Kremlin is concerned that “terrorists are using the cease-fire regime to regroup, to replenish their arsenals and for obvious preparations to carry out attacks.”