West cares about pressure on Russia, not about Syrian settlement

A round-table discussion was held yesterday in Moscow on public and political support of the Syrian people, after which a draft declaration in support of Syria was adopted, which refers to the creation of a public independent solidarity platform for the consolidation of all those who show interest and feel the need to contribute to permanent cessation of the destructive processes in the Middle East, initiated by the United States and its allies.

"Russia refers to the current situation in Syria with deep emotion and sincere empathy. The situation in Syria remains one of the most important topics on the international agenda. It is not only because of the scale of violence and bloodshed in this country, but also because what is happening there can negatively affect the modern world order system based on the principles of the UN Charter, as well as the role of this organization in conflict prevention," Russian president's special envoy for the Middle East and African countries and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said during the round-table discussion.

"We are seriously worried by the tendency to aggravate the already complicated military and political situation in Syria in connection with the aggressive course taken by Washington and its closest allies." On April 14, a coalition of the United States, Britain and France staged an illegal action of intimidation, using military force against the sovereign SAR, the UN member state since the foundation of this international organization,in circumvention of the UN Security Council.

Thanks to the measures of political and military deterrence undertaken by Russia through various channels as well as the professional calculations of Syrian air defense, significant damage to the infrastructure of the Syrian Armed Forces, which have fought bravely against international terrorism for more than 7 years, was averted. In military terms, aggression has not produced significant dividends for its initiators. The references to the fact that the destroyed objects alleged to be linked to production of chemical weapons do not stand scrutiny," Mikhail Bogdanov said.

He recalled that the Syrian chemical program had long been curtailed, and the existing chemical weapons and precursors had been exported and destroyed, including with the direct participation of the United States: "By the way, the US is not rid of its stocks of chemical weapons. It is revealing that Washington did not want to wait for the results of the independent investigation. Moreover, the air strike of the coalition was carried out a day before the OPCW team was supposed to come to Damascus and start working.

The United States, Britain and France demonstrated that their humanitarian rhetoric, attempts to justify their military presence in Syria with the needs of defeating jihadists, with which, in fact, they side, aim to cover their plans for dismembering the country. It's absurd to bombard the place of development, production and storage of chemical weapon, because if poisonous substances were really present on the site destroyed by the western strikes, then the vast territories would be at risk of infection and thousands of civilians could be affected."

Mikhail Bogdanov also said: "Recently, we have repeatedly received signals that members of radical illegal armed groups can carry out a chemical provocation. It has been said several times at the highest level. Some representatives of the Syrian opposition said that, by doing this, they expect to force the United States and France to react in accordance with the red lines indicated in Syria by them.

We have repeatedly explained in the UN Security Council and in the OPCW the absurdity of the allegations about the Syrian government troops attacking Douma on April 7. At the same time, we did not call anyone to take our word of the word of the Syrians. On the contrary, we consistently demanded that an independent expert group be sent to understand the situation on the spot. But our calls were not heard, and two drafts resolutions submitted to the UN Security Council by Russia were blocked. And one of these drafts relied on those previously prepared by our Swedish partners.

It seems that now the main thing for the Western members of the UN Security Council is the constant pressure on Russia, and not concern about the settlement in Syria. In the current extremely difficult circumstances, humanitarian assistance in Syria is in demand as never before. It should be implemented on a depoliticized basis, because it is about saving human life, women, children, the elderly, the sick and the wounded."

Meanwhile, president of the Russian-Syrian Friendship and Cultural Relations Society Alexander Dzasokhov said that the unjust and destructive pressure on not just Syria, but on the entire international community, has been exerted for more than 7 years. "Russia, as the successor to the USSR, confirmed that our foreign policy remains consistent on principled strategic issues. There were periods when the adopted decisions were perceived with great concern, including among the political and expert community, but time has shown that taking the path of supporting the Syrian people in its struggle for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity was historically the only right decision," Dzasokhov believes.

According to him, the round-table discussion on social and political support of the Syrian people was conceived as an opportunity to search for new forms and ideas aimed at expanding such support. "Today, the states and political forces of Europe, which until recently played a much greater role than the European troika in solving the most complicated problems in Indochina, in Latin America, in South Africa, were shifted to the periphery. I mean Sweden, Finland, Norway, Italy and Greece. Therefore, it is necessary to find ways of expanding the solidarity of the political parties and public associations of the countries mentioned above.