Lavrov: Syria Has Taken Sufficient Positive Steps towards Annan’s Plan

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Syria has taken sufficient positive steps towards the plan of the UN envoy to it Kofi Annan, the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reported on Wednesday.

In press statements following the ministerial meeting of the G8 in Washington, Lavrov stressed that Russia supports sending international monitors to Syria as soon as possible, adding that Russia spares no efforts to make Annan’s mission a success.

He said that focus at this time should be placed on ensuring the implementation of Annan’s plan to resolve the crisis in Syria, adding that the priority now is for all the parties to abide by the ceasefire.

“We heard from some Western and Arab capitals that Annan’s plan had failed even before being presented. These statements indicate to people who are not interested in [the plan] success and we are not one of those,” said Lavrov.

He added that Russia considers the UN envoy’s plan as “very realistic” and is working to make it a success.

The Russian Foreign Minister said Moscow is with sending international monitors to Syria as soon as possible as this is a part of Annan’s plan which provides for a ceasefire with effective international supervision.

Lavrov revealed that he discussed with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Washington the structure and number of the monitors to be sent to Syria to prevent any provocation.

He noted that he asked the UN Secretary General to quickly respond to the commission approved by the Security Council on April 5th and present his vision on the framework and the required number of monitors so as for the Security Council to make the appropriate decision on a mandate to send the monitors to Syria.

Lavrov reiterated his call upon all the Syrians to sit around the dialogue table, pointing out that the Syrian leadership has already expressed its readiness to do so.

He noted that Russia has been meeting representatives of the opposition inside and outside Syria to try to influence them.

“However, it is clear that some of our partners in the international arena have been saying different things to the opposition and pushing it towards intransigence,” added Lavrov, considering such thing as wrong and contradicts all statements issued to settle the crisis, end violence and move to dialogue.”

On a question about whether there is a rapprochement of attitudes towards Syria in the G8, Lavrov said that “Nothing has been achieved in this regard as the Syrian crisis is listed on agenda of the UN Security Council, reminding that Kofi Annan was commissioned by the Council to which he will submit his report.”

“President Bashar al-Assad is not in power because Russia and China want him to be, but because he represents the majority of the Syrian people, and to say that an opposition trend is the legitimate representative of the Syrian people is an exaggeration,” said Lavrov, describing the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statements towards the Russian stance towards the Syrian leadership as “emotional”.

Lavrov Calls for Diplomacy to Remove Concerns over Iran’s Nuclear Program

On the Iranian nuclear issue, the Russian Foreign Minister called on all the participants in the negotiations due to start on Friday on Iran’s nuclear file to resort to diplomacy to gradually remove concerns over this file.

He pointed out that the Russian delegation will take part in the meeting with the ultimate goal is to remove concerns over the peacefulness of the Iranian nuclear program and exercise the arts of diplomacy to coordinate the structure and the process towards reaching this goal.

Russian MP: Duma Council Welcomes Syrian Government Decision on Cease-fire Vice Chairman of the International Relations Committee at the Russian Duma Council, Andre Klimov, expresses the Council’s welcome of the decision of the Syrian Government on cease-fire starting of Thursday morning.

Klimov said that all sides should precisely implement the steps of Kofi Annan’s plan and start a dialogue, expressing his confidence that there is no way out for solving the crisis but the implementation of Annan’s plan.

He called for the need for UN-mandated observers to come to Syria after officially making sure that all parties have stopped armed operations and forces withdrawn, pointing out to the possibility that Russian citizens may be included as observers whose presence in Syria may be long.

“If the Syrian Government implements the recommendations of Annan’s plan, there would be no reason for the international community to blame it for anything, but these recommendations should be implemented by the gunmen too,” Klimov added.