Churkin: Russia will prevent attempts to grant Syria's UN seat to opposition

Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said Russia will firmly prevent the attempts seeking to give Syria's seat at the UN to the Syrian opposition. "The UN is an international organization where seats can't be granted to opposition groups that didn't go through the necessary measures to be granted legitimacy, and we will firmly stand against this," Churkin was quoted by Russia Today website as saying in a press conference on Thursday. He added that the majority of the UN member countries are aware of their responsibilities and respect this international institution. "I believe they realize that if anything of the like happened, this would actually undermine the positions of this international organization," said Churkin. He warned that the countries which support the idea of granting Syria's UN seat to the opposition "are running the risk of becoming a victim of such ploys in the future." Churkin indicated a contradiction in the stances of some members of the Security Council towards Mali and Syria, saying while they stress the necessity to conduct elections in Mali needed to establish legitimate bodies for the authority, "they are regrettably and for some reason following another path with regard to the crisis in Syria, which would be lethal to international relations."