http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-russia-not-taking-sides-in-syria-conflict/459712.html
: Russia Not Taking Sides in Syria Conflict 01 June 2012 By Nikolaus von Twickel kremlin.ru Putin and Merkel speaking to reporters during a news conference in Berlin on Friday. President Vladimir Putin on Friday denied that Moscow is fueling the spiraling bloodshed in Syria with arms exports and refuted claims that Russia unilaterally supports the government in Damascus. "Russia is not delivering arms that could be used in a civil conflict," Putin told reporters in Berlin on Friday. The president was speaking at a joint news conference with German chancellor Angela Merkel, responding to a question on whether Moscow was ready to impose an arms embargo on Syria as demanded by human rights groups. Syria is one of Russia's top weapons customers, and multiple reports have suggested that arms shipments have continued during the 14-month bloody clashes between the government and pro-democracy opposition forces bent on ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad. The fighting has claimed more than 10,000 lives so far, and the United States and the European Union have spoken in favor of a UN Security Council-imposed arms embargo. Moscow, together with fellow veto wielder China, has stubbornly prevented UN Security Council sanctions against Syria, but Putin denied that Moscow supports the government in Damascus. "Those who say that Russia unilaterally supports the Assad regime, they are wrong," he said, according to a transcript of comments posted on the Kremlin website. "We have had good relations with Syria for many years, but we do not support any of the sides that might start a civil war," he said. Putin promised that Moscow would continue to seek a peaceful end to the fighting. "We will do everything to end the conflict ... and start a political solution. Can this be done? Overall, I think it is possible," he said. But his claims were immediately met with skepticism by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said she is not convinced that Moscow was neutral. Russia is viewed in the United Nations, in Damascus and around the world "as supporting the continuity of the Assad regime", Clinton told reporters in Oslo on Friday, the Associated Press reported. "The continued supply of arms from Russia has strengthened the Assad regime," and the fact "that Russia has maintained this trade ... has raised serious concerns," Clinton was quoted as saying. Moscow softened its stance earlier this week in the wake of international outrage at a massacre in the Syrian town of Houla, which killed more than 100 civilians, including dozens of children. However, the Foreign Ministry on Friday evening warned against attempts to use the massacre for political purposes aimed at justifying a military intervention, as happened in Libya last year. "The tragedy in Houla showed what financial aid and weapons smuggling to rebels, the hiring of foreign mercenaries, and flirtations with various extremists can lead to," the ministry said in a statement on its website. Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-russia-not-taking-sides-in-syria-conflict/459712.html#ixzz1wl6AbGND The Moscow Times [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
