Washington and its allies refuse to amend a resolution drafted by the UN Security Council to include guarantees that militants will observe the ceasefire in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
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Russia is ready to vote for the UNSC draft, but for the proposal to yield real results, it needs “a formula allowing the ceasefire to be made real, and based on the guarantees of everyone in Eastern Ghouta [province in Syria] and beyond.” Moscow’s top diplomat also cautioned that there are no guarantees that the militants will stick to the humanitarian pause instead of a continued shelling of residential areas in Damascus.
These guarantees should be supported by those who can influence “extremist groups” in Eastern Ghouta, Lavrov stressed, apparently referring to the US-led coalition.
At the same time, Washington and its allies do not want to pass any amendment that would place responsibility on itself for the militants’ failure to stop the hostilities, according to the diplomat.
“For now, they refuse to accept an amendment which will place responsibility on them to ensure that the militants give clear guarantees to stop the shelling,” the Russian foreign minister stated on Friday.
