Russia to skip ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting in Tunis
‘Because it only supports opposition’s cause’:
Russia: Russia on Tuesday said it will not attend an
international conference in Tunis this week aimed at seeking political
change in Syria because the meeting only supported the opposition's
cause.
The meeting was called “for the purpose of supporting one side
against another in an internal conflict,” the foreign ministry said in a
statement. “We cannot accept the offer to attend this meeting.” The
Friends of Syria group will meet for the first time on Friday after
being created in a reponse to a joint veto by Russia and China of a UN
Security Council resolution condemning President Bashar al-Assad for the
violence.
The group is backed by members of the European Union as well as some
Arab nations and the United States.
Russia's statement said the meeting would be unable to improve
dialogue between Assad's government and the opposition on ways of ending
11 months of violence that opposition sources say have killed more than
6,000 people.
“The invitations to attend the Tunis meeting were issued to some
parts of the opposition, but representatives of the Syrian government
were not invited,” the statement said.
“This means that the interests of the majority of the Syrian
population, which supports the authorities, will not be represented.”
AFP |