Vladivostok: Russia today soundly rejected US
calls for increased pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to relinquish
power.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to prod Moscow into
supporting UN action to end the crisis in Syria and she expressed hope that
Congress would repeal Cold War-era trade restrictions on Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, after meeting Clinton on the sidelines
of a meeting of Pacific Rim leaders, told reporters that Moscow is opposed to
US-backed penalties against the Assad government, in addition to new ones
against Iran over its nuclear program, because they harm Russian commercial
interests.
"Our American partners have a prevailing
tendency to threaten and increase pressure, adopt ever more sanctions against
Syria and against Iran," Lavrov said. "Russia is fundamentally
against this, since for resolving problems you have to engage the countries you
are having issues with and not isolate them."
"Unilateral US sanctions against Syria and Iran increasingly take on an
extraterritorial character, directly affecting the interests of Russian
business, in particular banks," he said. "We clearly stated that this
was unacceptable, and they listened to us. What the result will be, I don't
know."
Clinton, who also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the annual
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Vladivostok, had urged Moscow
to reconsider its opposition to the penalties, particularly against Syria in
order to convince Assad that he should agree to a political transition,
according to a senior US official.
Clinton told her Russian counterpart that the Security Council needed to do
more to send "a strong message" to Assad, given the escalating level
of violence in Syria, said the official, who was present during the meeting.
Clinton made clear to Lavrov that the Security Council risks "abrogating
its responsibility" if it fails to act.
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