Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: Russia’s involvement in the armed conflict in Syria is out of the question
Russia’s involvement in the armed conflict is absolutely out of the question. The Tartus naval logistics bade is functioning in normal mode. I’d like to stress that our long-term cooperation in the military-technical sphere serves, above all, the maintenance of stability in the Middle East and has never been aimed at supporting any forces in the Syrian internal arena.
We are absolutely against outside, the more so force interference into what is happening in Syria. We are doing everything in our power to stop the bloodshed, to encourage the sides to sit down at the negotiating table so that the Syrians themselves could agree upon the parameters of the future political system their country. This is on which the leading states agreed at a meeting in Geneva on June 30. To implement these agreements we work closely with the government and with all the opposition groups. We believe that all other external players that have influence in Syrian affairs should also make efforts to get all the sides to implement the approach on which the Geneva meeting participants agreed.
If the ‘war to the bitter end’ against the regime of Bashar al-Assad is encouraged instead, it will only exacerbate the suffering of the Syrian people, aggravating the already explosive situation in the Middle East.
Before the beginning of the tragedy, a large Russian diaspora lived in Syria. Many of our citizens have had to return to Russia. But thousands of Russians stayed in the country. We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide information about any changes affecting the interests of Russian citizens. We focus on their security.
On June, 18 the Y20 Russia 2013 Summit started at the site of the St.Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint-Petersburg. The Summit, which is a crowning event of the official Youth track within the framework of the Russian G20 Presidency, will last till June 21.
Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. The two presidents discussed the current bilateral cooperation agenda and integration work in the CIS region, and also preparations in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine for the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus.
Question: What are conditions for holding the international conference for Syria? Who should participate in it? How do you assess the decision of the European Union about supplies of armaments for the Syrian opposition? Sergey Lavrov:The deepening of the crisis in Syria and the rising strain in interreligious relations, in particular in the line of Sunni-Shiites, on the background of it, will cost us serious disturbances at regional scale. We realise that and strive to prevent the danger of explosion of the situation in the Middle East.
On June 15-17, 2013 the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance (G20 YEA) summit was held in Moscow within the framework of the Business 20 track. The summit was attended by more than 400 participants.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, We have conducted very valuable negotiations and will continue them over breakfast. We have stated our joint determination to make the weighty results in Russian-Italian relations reached in the last years become a stimulus for succession and further build-up of our partnership in various fields.
On May 22-24, 2013 the G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute, with support of the Asia Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and the Korea Development Institute (KDI), hosted a regional Think 20 seminar in Sydney under the header "The G20 Leaders' Process Five Years On: an Assessment from an Asian Perspective."
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