Russia not to support new UN resolution on Syria

Moscow, April 14: Russia will vote against a new draft UN resolution on Syria, the Russian foreign ministry has said.

The draft document, prepared by a number of countries and to be voted soon at the UN General Assembly, is "obviously biased and full of conflicting terms", Xinhua cited the ministry as saying in a statement.

The ministry said the resolution blames only the Syrian government for the crisis, completely ignoring external military, logistical and financial support for the opposition and terrorist activities of armed opposition groups.

The authors of the new resolution seek approval from the UN General Assembly of its unilateral plan for Syria with the single purpose of regime change, the statement said.

The resolution ignores "regional and political implications of such a scenario".

Two previously adopted UN General Assembly resolutions with almost identical content only served to complicate the process of peaceful settlement. Moscow, therefore, will not support such a document in the vote, it said.

About 70,000 people have died in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, according to UN estimates.

IANS