Russian MFA downplays Assad defeat comments
December 14, 2012 – 15:29 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday, Dec 14,
downplayed earlier comments made by the ministry’s deputy head in
which he suggested that the Syrian opposition could win the civil war
raging in the country, RIA Novosti reported.
Mikhail Bogdanov has not made any specific statements for the press on
Syria in recent days, the ministry said on Friday.
The Syrian conflict was discussed at a roundtable in Moscow on
Thursday, attended by Bogdanov, where speakers cited the Syrian
opposition’s statements about their inevitable victory, the ministry
explained in the carefully worded statement.
The Foreign Ministry said that, speaking at the roundtable, Bogdanov
had reiterated Russia’s position: Moscow wants to see a political
solution to the crisis in Syria.
Bogdanov’s contribution to Thursday’s discussion was widely quoted in
the Russian and international media: `We have to face up to reality,
the trend is that the Syrian authorities, the Syrian government is
increasingly losing control, losing more and more territory. Sadly, a
victory by the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled out.’
It was also welcomed by the U.S. Department of State, which commended
Moscow `for finally waking up to the reality.’
But on Friday Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich
was dismissive. `I saw the U.S. State Department spokeswoman citing
[Bodganov] and praising how Moscow has finally woken up and is
changing its position,’ he said.
`But we never slept. And we never changed our position, and will not
do so in the future,’ Lukashevich said at a press briefing in Moscow.
More than 30,000 people died in the 21-month-long standoff between the
Syrian opposition and the forces of President Bashar al-Assad,
according to UN estimates.
The United States has repeatedly called for Assad’s ouster, while
Russia has insisted that the opposition shares the blame for the
violence and that political dialog is the only way of stopping the
civil war.