Russian FM: Obama and Ashton’s stances towards Syria unacceptable

Russian Foreign Ministry announced Friday that the stance of US President Barack Obama and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton yesterday towards Syria is unacceptable. An official source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia ”doesn’t support the said stances and calls” and does believe that it is ”important to give chance to the implementation of the reform process announced by President Bashar Al-Assad”. The official pointed out to the many reform measures taken in Syria including the issuance of appropriate laws related to general amnesty, reiterating Russia’s encouragement for Syria in all possible means as to implement the said measures. The Russian official source asserted that time should be given to the Syrian Government as to implement the reforms, underscoring that general dialogue alone can form the way to the finding of effective solutions for all issues accumulated lately. The source pointed out that the Syrians in practice are willing to cooperate with the international community and the United Nations as to settle the situation. Earlier, Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, reiterated that the US calls for imposing sanctions on Syria are futile and not useful calling for self-restraint, reforms, and dialogue, lashing out at the Syrian opposition for rejecting dialogue.