French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Friday that France does not understand the objections of some representatives of the international community to a UN Security Council draft resolution on Syria.
“This draft resolution does not provide for military intervention, as was the case with Libya. That is why we do not understand the arguments being made against it,” Juppe said in his opening remarks at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club titled “Russia and Europe: Facing Common Challenges.” The panel was held at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.
In his opinion, “the world community must no longer shut its eyes to the events in Syria.” Juppe emphasized that “the UN Security Council must react to the situation without any further delay.”
Russia opposes the adoption of the Security Council resolution on Syria. Speaking in the State Duma on June 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the events in Yemen were no better, but “nobody is asking the UN Security Council to stop them.” Lavrov emphasized that in Yemen, Western countries “are trying to create conditions for the government and the opposition to sit down and talk.” He said that it is necessary to adopt the same attitude to Syria and do everything possible to facilitate national consensus through a dialogue between all political forces in the country without interfering in its domestic affairs.
In Yemen, anti-government protests demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh started in February. According to the Western media, several hundred people perished during the riots. In the last few weeks, rebels have been trying to take revenge on government troops for killing the demonstrators.
The riots in Syria started in Daraa, a city on its southern border with Jordan, more than four months ago, then spread to other regions of the country. Syrian law-enforcement officials report that some 1,300 people died in clashes with security forces. In turn, according to official information, 340 servicemen and law-enforcement officers have lost their lives since the start of protests by “armed terrorists” whom the Syrian authorities hold responsible for the violence in the country.
