Russia slams plans to sell arms to Syria rebels
NEW YORK. April 24 (Interfax) - Russia has attacked the plans of some countries to provide Syrian opposition groups with weapons.
"One cannot help being alarmed by the desire of some countries to supply illegal groups in Syria with weapons, which the risk of their eventually ending up in the hands of terrorists who are operating on its territory," Russia's permanent envoy to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
"If the principle of war to a victorious end, which is encouraged by an aggressive minority in the world community, takes the upper hand, it will set off further degeneration of the situation and growth in terrorist activity, including in neighboring countries," he said.
Moreover, the latest UN General Assembly draft resolution on Syria is "extremely harmful," and attempts to lobby it "run against the objective of launching a political dialogue in Syria," Churkin said.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned it would not back the draft resolution.
