Attempts to disrupt Geneva II under humanitarian pretexts unacceptable - Lavrov
MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) - It is unacceptable to use the Syrian humanitarian crisis as an excuse for an intervention in that country and a disruption of the Geneva II international conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"The humanitarian situation should be improved with practical steps. Persons guilty of war crimes must be brought to justice eventually. But let us be frank - it is not acceptable to use this subject an excuse for complicating or even so disrupting the convocation of Geneva II," he told a press conference in Moscow on Friday.
"Attempts are being made, in particular, with the use of UN mechanisms, to exacerbate tensions surrounding the Syrian humanitarian situation and create another pretext for the promotion of the idea of so-called "humanitarian corridors" and no-fly zones and, in the end, to justify a humanitarian intervention," the minister said.
"It is simply deplorable to search for new pretexts and create artificial pretexts for a foreign intervention and to use such a thing as the humanitarian crisis in doing so," he concluded.
