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Russia calls for end to 'ultimatums' against Syria

China Daily via Agencies, November 30, 2011

• Russia on Tuesday urged an end to "ultimatums" against Syria after the approval of Arab League sanctions and a call from Washington and European Union for an immediate end to violence.

  "Right now, the most important thing is to stop acting by means of ultimatums and try to move toward political dialogue," Interfax quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.

  His comments came one day after the United States and the EU issued a joint statement after White House talks for "the Syrian government to end violence immediately".

  Lavrov added that Russia's negative experience of NATO's air campaign in Libya made it unlikely that Moscow would back the imposition of an arms embargo against Syria.

  "The periodic proposals that we hear on imposing a complete arms embargo on Syria - I would say that they are fairly disingenuous," Lavrov said after meeting his Icelandic counterpart.

  "We are going to view another embargo, this one against Syria, based on the experience that we gained from the Libyan example."

  Russia backed the impositions of an arms embargo against the government of former Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi and abstained from a UN resolution that paved the way for military action against his government.

  Moscow then strongly criticized the course of the campaign and was particularly angered by an arms drop to Libyan opposition forces that was confirmed by France.

  Russia accused NATO of breaking the spirit of the UN resolution by picking sides in the Libya conflict and openly backing the opposition.

  Russia has loaded its only aircraft carrier with supersonic jets and anti-ship helicopters in preparation for a rare port call to Syria before the end of the year, according to AFP.

  "Our ships' visit to Syria was planned in advance and has no relation to the current events in Syria," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted an unnamed Russian defence official as saying.

  "This is a matter of improving the training of our naval crew," the official said.

  Syria's ambassador to Russia echoed the statement.

  "You cannot link the Russian ships' plans to enter Tartus to the current situation in Syria," ambassador Suleiman Abu Diyab told the Interfax news agency.

  A report submitted by an investigation panel of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday concluded that Syrian forces committed crimes against humanity by killing 256 children, The Associated Press said.

  China called for all sides in Syria to stop any further violence, start an inclusive and balanced political process and achieve an early resumption of national stability and social order, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday.

  Organizations such as the UN Human Rights Council should provide constructive support in this process, said Hong.

  Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Moallem on Monday accused the international community of turning a blind eye to the fact that armed groups are behind the violence in Syria.

  At a news conference, Moallem charged that the Arabs and their Western backers refused to believe in the existence of armed groups in Syria, but instead "they accuse the Syrian army of committing crimes against the Syrians".

  Moallem also urged neighboring countries to stop cross-border smuggling of weapons and funds, as well as to stop all campaigns of media provocation by Arab TV channels. He noted that armed and terrorist groups have stepped up their crimes following the withdrawal of the Syrian army and security forces from some cities.

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