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'Appalling': Russian Embassy Says UK Ducking Responsibility For Syrian Crisis

LONDON (Sputnik) - The Russian embassy in London on Friday hit back at UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt for calling Moscow a threat to the rules-based international order.
Sputnik

"We do not accept the concept of a ‘rules-based international order.’ The international order must be based on international laws – legal norms agreed by all states," a spokesperson for the embassy said in a statement.

The spokesperson said London was trying to replace the idea of international laws by a set of vague rules to cover up its legal shortcomings and evade responsibility for breaking laws, while accusing others of violations.

READ MORE: White Helmets Engaged in Looting, Human Organ Trafficking in Syria — Watchdog

The Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom also said Friday that it had been taken aback by London’s attempt to avoid responsibility for the Syrian crisis, shifting it onto Russia despite history of the Western coalition supporting militants in the Middle Eastern country.

"The cynicism with which Hunt shifts the responsibility for further developments in Syria onto Russia is appalling. Let's not forget that it is the United Kingdom alongside its allies, who bear a huge share of the blame for the many years the Syrian people suffering. Western countries encouraged the adversaries of Assad to an armed confrontation with the government, fueled their hopes for military assistance, consistently torpedoed Damascus peace initiatives, supported accomplices of terrorists and provocateurs like the White Helmets. In April 2018, they committed a direct act of aggression against Syria under the artificial pretext of a ‘chemical attack’, and now they are striving to waive all responsibility," embassy's spokesperson said in a statement.

READ MORE: Syria’s FM Walid Muallem: UK Helped White Helmets Smuggle Chlorine to Idlib

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It is the Syrian people who should decide the future of the country and not Moscow or London, the embassy noted.

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad appeared set to remain in power for a while due to Russia’s support. He said Russia, as a dominant power in Syria, was now also responsible for maintaining peace in the war-torn country, including making sure that chemical weapons are not used against people there.

Western states and Syrian opposition accused Damascus in April of being responsible for an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, which led to a series of missile strikes by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France on Syria. Damascus refuted the allegations saying that the attack was plotted by militants to discredit the government troops.

READ MORE: UK to Continue Support of White Helmets in Syria — Foreign Office

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