Russian President Putin (R) with Syria's Assad in Moscow, Oct. 2015. (Alexei Druzhinin, RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The Russian president referred to efforts to sanction Syria for its reported use of chemical weapons as “inappropriate.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his country’s opposition to sanctioning the Syrian government for its reported use of chemical weapons during the country’s six-year civil war.
“Russia will not support any new sanctions against the Syrian leadership.”Putin stated at a news conference in Kyrgyzstan, after meeting with that country’s president, Almazbek Atambayev.
The Russian president made his remarks as the United Nations Security Council plans on Tuesday to vote on a resolution forwarded by the United Kingdom and France that would sanction senior Syrian officials and ban the supply of helicopters to the Syrian army.
“I think it is totally inappropriate,” Putin added. “It would undermine trust in the negotiating process.”
France and the UK had pushed for such a resolution back in December, following up on a joint inquiry by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that found Syrian army helicopters to have dropped chlorine barrel bombs on several villages.
Russia is expected to veto the resolution if and when it comes to a vote at the UN Security Council.
By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News
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