Russia says U.N. move on Syria sanctions negative for Geneva talks
By John Irish and Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Tuesday a U.N. Security Council resolution put forward by Western powers to punish Syria's government over its alleged use of chemical weapons would harm peace talks in Geneva. The resolution, vetoed by Russia and China, amid U.N.-led peace talks between the warring Syrian parties, had aimed to ban the supply of helicopters to the Syrian government and to blacklist Syrian military commanders. "It is counter-constructive," Gatilov told reporters. "The climate will be negative, not because we veto it, but because this resolution was put forward." The Security Council showdown pitted Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, against the United States, France and Britain, who back the opposition. Russia has sought to revive diplomacy since its air force helped the Syrian army and allied militias to defeat rebels in Aleppo in December, Assad's biggest victory in six years of war. Despite the announcement of a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey and supported by Iran, a weekend of bombings and air strikes in Syria has rattled the talks that began last week. Gatilov said he would meet the opposition on Wednesday. Opposition sources had said they expected to meet the Middle East director at Russia's foreign ministry, Sergei Vershinin, later on Tuesday. However, those meetings appeared in doubt after the Russian veto. "It's complicated to talk to the Russians. We need to talk to them, but we risk being accused at any moment of being traitors especially after what happened at the U.N. today," a member of the opposition delegation said. TRANSITION AND TERRORISM U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura, who met the government delegation on Tuesday, said a militant attack in Homs on Saturday was a deliberate attempt to wreck the Geneva talks. He has warned that ceasefire violations could scupper the small "window of opportunity". "The fight against terrorism is a priority and should be on the agenda (in Geneva) along with other issues," Gatilov said. "It should not be ignored in the course of negotiations." In a working paper handed to the two parties, de Mistura said the issue of fighting terrorism and the ceasefire should be handled in the parallel talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran. He has said the focus in Geneva should be a new constitution, U.N.-supervised elections and accountable governance, based on Security Council resolution 2254. "We met with (Syrian government negotiator Bashar) Ja'afari and he reconfirmed that he is not against the agenda proposal, but he said that terrorism should not be ignored and should also be on the agenda," Gatilov said. On Monday the opposition called on Moscow do more to ensure the ceasefire was observed and to pressure the Syrian government to discuss political transition. The opposition official said on Tuesday they would tell de Mistura on Wednesday that if the government publicly said it was ready to discuss a transition then that would keep the process alive. "The opposition is flexible and ready to make concessions, but the government must commit to a political transition. After that we'll talk about everything and we're ready to add terrorism to the list," the official said. (Additional reporting by Yara Abi Nader and Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Editing by Andrew Roche)
