The UN Security Council should not turn into "a testing range" for unilateral decisions "to change political regimes in sovereign countries," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
The top Russian diplomat said last month’s UN Security Council resolution on Syria, which was vetoed by Russia and China, was an example of a decision based on unilateral opinion.
The Morocco-proposed draft resolution called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down and withdraw his forces from cities and towns. Russia proposed its own draft of the resolution, but it was ignored, Lavrov said.
“It seems that they [Russia’s UN Security Council partners] are prisoners of an artificial scheme based on the wrong estimations of events in Syria,” Laverov added.
Some Western countries have been trying to persuade Moscow to support a resolution effectively authorizing a military operation, which Russia has repeatedly insisted is a Western drive for a stronger crackdown on Syria and preparation for a “Libyan scenario.”
Lavrov said earlier that the resolution did not set enough demands on anti-government armed groups and that Russia was concerned it could jeopardize Syria’s national political dialogue.
Both Western and Arab nations increased pressure on Assad’s regime, calling for an immediate end to bloodshed in Syria, which according to Syrian rights groups has claimed more than 7,000 lives since the uprising against the current authorities began 11 months ago.
