Protest at Russian Embassy Would Increase 'Hysteria and Jingoism' - Peace Group

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United Kingdom's Stop the War Coalition peace advocacy group on Wednesday rejected UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's calls to stage demonstrations outside the Russian embassy in London to protest against Moscow's anti-terrorist campaign in Syria.

“A protest outside the Russian embassy would actually contribute to increasing the hysteria and the jingoism that is being whipped up at the moment against Russia,” Chris Nineham, the groups' vice chairman, told the BBC Radio 4's Today program.

On Tuesday, Johnson made his first speech at the House of Commons during an emergency debate, where he blasted Moscow for its actions in Syria and urged people to protest outside the Russian Embassy in London. The minister referred directly to the Stop the War Coalition in his unprecedented call on anti-war groups to hold demonstrations in front of the embassy.

Nineham stressed that staging protests outside the Russian embassy would make no difference to the situation, while the group is focused on making a real difference in the United Kingdom and to what the country's authorities, as well as its allies, do.

Stop the War was established in September 2001 to protest what it believes to be unjust wars. It has protested Western military action in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq and the United Kingdom's involvement in the US-led intervention in Syria.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with opposition factions and Islamist terrorist groups such as Daesh and al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front, now known as Jabhat Fatah al Sham, fighting the Syrian army. Both organizations are banned in many countries worldwide, including Russia.

Russia has been conducting an anti-terror campaign in the Arab country since September 2015 at Syrian President Bashar Assad's request. The US-led coalition has been fighting an anti-terrorist aerial campaign in Syria since 2014 without Syrian government consent.