On Wednesday, media reported, citing a judicial source, that France had issued arrest warrants for Assad, his brother Maher Assad, and two other senior officials in connection with the alleged use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria.
"Regarding the decision of the French court, which issued an international arrest warrant for Syrian president Bashar Assad, you know, the Western judicial system, both at the national and international levels, has repeatedly proven its bias," Lavrov told reporters.
A decade ago, a grave false flag operation by anti-government forces in Syria nearly precipitated a US military intervention. On August 21, 2013, militants opposed to Bashar Assad's government launched an assault on Eastern Ghouta, a heavily populated region on the eastern fringes of Damascus, the Syrian capital. This assault involved the use of sarin-filled shells.
The incident tragically resulted in casualties estimated between 300 and 1,700. It occurred in the context of then-US President Barack Obama's stern warning that the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government would cross a "red line" and provoke a response from the United States. Following the attack, Western nations were quick to hold the Syrian government responsible, leading to discussions in the United States about potentially invading the Middle Eastern nation.
However, a diplomatic resolution was reached, averting further escalation, thanks to Russia's efforts. The settlement led to the agreement that Syria would dispose of its chemical weapons. This process was successfully carried out under the oversight of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). In 2016, the OPCW confirmed that Syria's chemical weapons had been completely destroyed.
Russia Condemns UN for Failing to Agree on Humanitarian Ceasefire in Middle East
Moscow condemns the UN Security Council for being unable to pass a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Palestine-Israel conflict, the minister stated.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council approved a resolution on Gaza that calls for "urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable, consistent with international humanitarian law, the full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for United Nations humanitarian agencies."
In addition, the resolution calls for the unconditional release of hostages by the Palestinian group Hamas as well as other groups.
"If we talk about the position of the international community, of course, the fact that the Security Council yesterday shamefully asked only for humanitarian pause and failed to support the language of the UN General Assembly that called for a humanitarian truce as a step towards a ceasefire. This, of course, speaks... above all, it speaks to the position of the United States and its allies," Lavrov told reporters after a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto.