Russia slams Western 'blackmail' over Syria

Sergei Lavrov

Russia yesterday defiantly slammed the West for using "blackmail" over a new UN Security Council resolution on Syria and ridiculed the idea it could convince President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
In combative comments that underlined the huge gulf between Russia and its Western partners, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of making an extension of the UN observers mandate in Syria conditional on Russia agreeing sanctions against Damascus.
Troops deployed armoured vehicles near the heart of the Syrian capital for the first time yesterday since an anti-regime uprising broke out last year, activists said.
"This is the first time that armoured and military transport vehicles have been deployed in Al-Midan," Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, referring to the district near central Damascus.
Lavrov bluntly shot down any lingering hopes that Russia could bring about an end to the crisis by persuading Assad to step down, saying the Syrian leader would never quit as he still retained popular support.
The splits between Russia and Western powers risk being played out in a new standoff at the UN Security Council, where the West wants Moscow to back a resolution that would impose new sanctions against Syria.
"To our great regret, we are witnessing elements of blackmail," Lavrov told reporters hours ahead of talks with UN-Arab League Syria envoy Kofi Annan in Moscow.
"We are being told to either agree to the approval of a resolution that includes Chapter 7 (that provides for possible sanctions), or we refuse to extend the mandate of the observer mission.
"We view this as a completely counterproductive and dangerous approach," Lavrov said.
The looming diplomatic clash at the United Nations comes ahead of a Friday deadline for the end of the current three-month mandate of the UN observer mission in Syria.