Russia Says Transition Is Needed in Syria but Cannot Be Imposed
Source: NYT
Published: June 28, 2012
MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said on Thursday that Syria needs a period of political transition but reiterated Moscow’s resistance to any plan being imposed by the international community.
“In order to overcome the Syrian crisis and to finally establish stable rights and norms which satisfy all groups in the Syrian population, it is necessary to have a transitional period, this is obvious,” Mr. Lavrov said, at a news conference in Moscow, appearing alongside his Tunisian counterpart.
Mr. Lavrov’s comments came ahead of an “action group” meeting in Geneva on Saturday at which Kofi Annan, the United Nations and Arab League special envoy, could put forward a proposal for a national unity cabinet that includes opposition figures.
Mr. Lavrov said that Russia has not agreed to any new version of Mr. Annan’s faltering cease-fire plan and criticized diplomats for leaking details of the process to the press.
“There are no agreed-upon plans, work continues on a possible final document,” he said. He said a meeting of experts will convene in Geneva on Friday.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/world/middleeast/russia-says-syria-transition-needed-but-cannot-be-imposed.html?pagewanted=all
