Russia urges compliance with Geneva agreements on Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called on members of the Action Group for Syria to strictly adhere to agreements on the settlement of the Syrian crisis reached at a ministerial meeting in Geneva on June 30. “Some of our partners have shown attempts to alter these agreements and revert to applying unilateral pressure [on Syria],” Lavrov told reporters after a high-level meeting of the Security Council on peace and security in the Middle East on Wednesday. “It is vital that all participants of the Geneva meeting continue complying with these agreements,” he said. At a meeting on Syria in Geneva on June 30, foreign ministers from UN Security Council permanent member states and from countries neighboring Syria proposed establishing a transitional Syrian government that would comprise both the Syrian authorities and opposition forces. The Russian foreign minister said the Geneva agreements remain the base for consensus on Syria within the UN Security Council. "I have no doubts that any military scenario, especially an armed intervention from outside, poses a serious threat to regional security and is fraught with unpredictable consequences," Lavrov reiterated. Russia has repeatedly called on the United States and the European Union to lift all unilateral sanctions they have imposed on Syria since the since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March last year. The Syrian conflict has claimed up to 30,000 lives according to estimates by various Syrian opposition groups. The UN estimates the death toll at over 18,000 people. Western powers say that the bulk of responsibility for the bloodshed lies with the Syrian government and insist on Assad’s resignation as the only way to end the crisis.