Moscow: Russia has said that Western powers are ‘openly instigating’ Syrian opposition groups to take up arms in their fight to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has claimed that the West ‘has done nothing’ to urge Assad’s opponents to start a dialogue with his government. The Ministry claimed that the ‘pharisaical’ Western approach to the Syrian civil war will not help resolve the conflict, which has killed an estimated 19,000 people, News 24 reports.
Russia has earlier warned the West that it will not tolerate unilateral intervention in Syria.
The message from Russia came a day after President Barack Obama said that any attempt by the Assad regime to use chemical weapons could trigger intervention by the United States.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said countries should ‘strictly adhere to norms of international law’.
According to the report, Moscow has been Syria’s key protector throughout the 17-month uprising that has evolved into a civil war, protecting Assad’s regime from international sanctions and providing it with weapons despite an international outcry.
ANI
