Russia and China vetoed Saturday the Arab-Western UN Security Council decision that called on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to step down, while the rest of the countries completely supported it.
Russia and China vetoed Saturday the Arab-Western UN Security Council decision that called on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to step down, while the rest of the countries completely supported it.
The Russian representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin considered that the decision was “unbalanced”.
He said that “the resolution text called on changing the regime, supported all opposition efforts to take control over power, and sent an unbalanced message to both parts,” and stressed that it “did not reflect the reality in Syria”.
For his part, the Chinese representative to the UN Li Baodong stated that this resolution required more discussions.
He pointed out that “imposing pressure in order to reach a vote, while there are still major disagreements on the issue, would neither help in preserving the unity and authority of the Security Council, nor would it help in resolving the crisis.”
In contrast, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon slammed Russia and China’s stance saying it “undermines” the United Nations.
The US representative to the UN said she was “disgusted” of Russia and China’s veto, considering that the two countries’ stances were the results of personal interests.
Syria's Representative to the United Nations Bashar Al-Jaafari said he respected her opinion. “However,” he asked: “Is she also disgusted of the 60 vetoes used in the past to prevent inclusive peace in the region and any just solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict?“
He expressed his country’s “appreciation for the efforts exerted by members of the council who defend people's rights and the UN's charter, particularly in preventing intervention in countries' internal affairs and waging wars on them.”
Syrian news agency SANA further quoted Al-Jaafari as saying that “Syria is a victim of a crisis triggered by parties who do not want any good for Syria and its people, and that these are providing money and weapons to terrorist groups perpetrating murder, abduction and vandalism.”
He assured Syria “did not need lessons in democracy and human rights from countries that deal with these concepts as they deal with opportunist sales and purchases in stock markets,” and stressed that Syria will regain its stability.
Moreover, Al-Jaafari responded to claims that the Syrian army committed a massacre in Homs, saying “Is there one sane person who can believe that a government would commit massacres on a day the Security Council will be holding a meeting on this country’s situation?”
According to SANA the Syrian representative to the UN also noted that “the acts of destruction and murder committed today by armed groups and the attacks on civilians, homes and Syrian embassies across the world is proof of their criminal nature,” adding “yet, the Secretary General and the Security Council did not denounce the attacks on the Syrian embassies abroad… all this is to send a misleading message to influence decision-makers in the Council."
