Lavrov: Moscow does not offer political asylum to Bashar Assad
According to RIA "News"Russia did not offer political asylum to the Syrian president. About this in an interview with the radio station "Kommersant FM" said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.Answering the question, is it not better for Bashar Assad to resign and then go to Moscow than to find himself in the position of Muammar Gaddafi instead, the minister said: "Nobody invites him to Moscow."
At the same time, Lavrov said: “It may be so, but it’s up to Asad. And he will decide this not because someone from Russia asks for it. ”
The minister pointed out that now many Western countries consider Assad a war criminal, saying that his place is the International Tribunal. The Russian Foreign Minister added that in this case, not Russia, but those who make such statements, “should explain to the Syrian president what opportunities he has.”
According to the minister, a comprehensive dialogue in Syria, with the participation of all representatives of the opposition and the government, will allow to solve all the issues, including about who will lead Syria in the transition period, as it was in Yemen.
Lavrov noted that so far, given the fragmentation of the Syrian opposition, “there is no intelligible answer” to the question of how all this will look and who will lead the process.
According to the minister, inside the European Union, the North Atlantic alliance and Western states, the situation in Syria is called “semi-descent”. But there “they do not want to seat those who listen to them at the negotiating table. That's the trouble. ”
Lavrov again reminded that the Russian Federation does not justify the leadership of Syria.
According to the minister, the Syrian government reacted incorrectly to the first protests. Despite promises in response to Russian appeals, the Syrian leadership is making a lot of mistakes. In this case, steps in the right direction are taken, alas, late. “Unfortunately,” the minister noted, “this largely contributed to the fact that the conflict had reached an acute stage.”
The Foreign Minister also recalled that the intervention of the international community in interstate conflicts is permissible only when it comes to aggression, about the attack of one state on another. According to him, in conflicts between states, the UN Security Council has the authority to decide on the use of force.
The Minister clarified that the second case provided for by the Charter of the United Nations for the legitimate use of force is the use of the right to collective or individual self-defense.
Recall that in February last year, demonstrations began in Libya, the participants of which demanded the departure of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled the country for more than forty years. Mass demonstrations escalated into an armed confrontation between the regime and the opposition, which received the support of NATO. In Benghazi, the opposition formed the Transitional National Council, which declared it the only legitimate authority in Libya. Gaddafi was killed on October 20 2011, near the city of Sirta.
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