JORDAN: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with former Syrian Prime Minister and Jordan's Foreign Minister in Amman to discuss the situation in Syria

Record ID: 281572

  • Title: JORDAN: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with former Syrian Prime Minister and Jordan's Foreign Minister in Amman to discuss the situation in Syria
  • Date: 6th November 2012
  • Summary: RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT AMMAN, JORDAN (NOVEMBER 6, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF JORDANIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ENTRANCE TO THE MINISTRY ARRIVAL OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV. NASSER JUDEH, JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, AND SERGEI LAVROV SHAKING HANDS VARIOUS OF MEETING BETWEEN JUDEH AND LAVROV JUDEH AND LAVROV ENTERING THE PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM JUDEH
  • Embargoed: 21st November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jordan
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEX1EP15DFFWO1QH0X1IRX2IYX
  • Story Text: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met on Tuesday (November 6) with Jordan's Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh, and former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, who defected to Jordan last August, to discuss the latest development on the conflict in Syria.
    Lavrov told Egypt's state al-Ahram daily in an interview published on Monday (November 5) that the arms still being sent to Damascus were part of old Soviet contracts and did not violate international law. Lavrov touched again on the arms deal during his press conference with Jordan's Foreign Minister on Tuesday.

    "We have fulfilled deliveries for old contracts, we are fulfilling deliveries for old contracts which have no relation to the fight against demonstrations (civil unrest) but which support the defence capability of Syria, mostly in the area of air defence," Lavrov told journalists.
    Russia sold the Syrian government 1 billion US dollars worth of weapons last year and has made clear it would oppose an arms embargo in the United Nations Security Council, contending that rebels would get weapons illegally anyway.
    Lavrov said that the the Syrian opposition should abandon a precondition that President Bashar al-Assad step down before entering talks with authorities to end the crisis.
    He accused the opposition of disregarding Syrian lives by demanding the immediate removal of Assad adding that one mustn't fight crimes with terrorist acts.

    "We do not absolve the regime, we recognise its crimes, but one mustn't fight crimes with terrorist acts and if the spiral of violence in Syria does not stop, we will mourn more and more victims among the Syrian people," he said.
    Lavrov, whose country is one of Assad's strongest allies, said both the government and the opposition must stick to proposals reached last June in Geneva by world powers. These called for a transitional government in Syria but did not say that Assad must surrender power
    "With regards to the establishment of the transition structures discussed in Geneva, its not up to us or to the Americans to decide them, it's not even up to the Arabs, but to the Syrians - this is what was decided and set out in the Geneva communiqu�- that the setting up and form of this council should be agreed by the government and the opposition,'' he added.
    Jordanian Foreign Minster, Nasser Judeh, said he had told Lavrov of the human scale of the conflict which has forced hundreds of thousands of Syrians to seek shelter in the Kingdom, a huge strain on Jordan.

    "Russia has an effective role in this subject, and we both agree completely on the importance of ending the violence (in Syria), and helping the Syrian people avoid the violence, killing, destruction and destitution, which they have been suffering from over the past two years. I also mentioned to his excellency, the minister, that we in Jordan are greatly affected by the humanitarian aspect relating to the violence in Syria, as we are hosting more than 215,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.
    Hijab, the most senior defector to leave Syria since the beginning of the uprising, is playing an increasing role in efforts to come up with a new political structure for the fragmented opposition.
    He said Assad's removal was "the only way out" for there to be a negotiated settlement to the 19-month-old conflict.

    "Russia is trying to find a solution but they need this solution to be a result of negotiations with the regime. And we have previously said that there will be no solution until this regime steps down. Negotiations will start as soon as the regime steps down," Hijab said in an interview with al-Arabiya TV on Tuesday.
    Russia and China, both permanent Security Council members, have vetoed three Western-backed U.N. draft resolutions condemning Assad's government for its crackdown on the uprising that began with peaceful demonstrations in March 2011 before turning into an armed revolt. About 32,000 people have been killed.
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