Russian Duma Urges U.S. Congress To Prevent War Against Syria

Itar-Tass
September 11, 2013

Duma urges US Congress to prevent military strikes on Syria

MOSCOW: The State Duma on Wednesday, September 11, urged the US Congress to prevent external aggression against Syria and supported Russia’s initiative that Syria’s chemical weapons be put under international control.

In a statement adopted on Wednesday, September 11, the Duma warned that the plans of the US administration and some other countries to bomb Syria were unacceptable.

“The bombing of Syria can jeopardise the nuclear and chemical security in the region and lead to new casualties among civilians, further destruction of the country’s life-supporting infrastructure and eventually to an unavoidable humanitarian catastrophe,” the Duma said.

Earlier in the day, a draft statement “On the Aggravation of the Situation in Syria” has been submitted to the State Duma, lower house of Russia’s parliament.

State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Aleksei Pushkov put forth an initiative to this effect on Wednesday.

In the draft statement the State Duma lawmakers say it is unacceptable for the United States and other countries to deliver missiles on Syria in circumvention of the UN Security Council. “The attack on Syria can pose a threat to nuclear and chemical security in the region and lead to new losses of lives, further destruction of the life support system and to the irreversible humanitarian catastrophe,” the draft statement says.

The Duma lawmakers urge those who back the military scenario to take a reasonable position. The military attack on Syria can be considered “a gross violation of international law and crimes against its own people”.

Under these circumstances, the position taken by US Congress, which refuses to maintain a dialogue with the Russian colleagues, arouses bewilderment. “The unwillingness to receive the Russian parliamentary delegation de facto torpedoes the bilateral dialogue. When such chances diminish the Russian-U.S. dialogue on key issues can turn to be in the air,” the draft statement says.

The authors say Russia “seeks to use all possibilities to settle the crisis in Syria by political means”.

“The State Duma considers Russia’s proposal to place chemical weapons in Syria under international control and Damascus’ support to the initiative a serious step towards the peaceful settlement of the conflict,” the draft statement says.

Lawmakers say UN inspectors should continue the work in Syria and the results of the investigation should be submitted to the UN Security Council. They believe that the conflict can be only settlement within the Geneva-2 international conference when “Damascus and the opposition will be able to find mutually acceptable decisions for the sake of peace and prosperity in Syria, stability and security in the whole region”.

“The State Duma seeks to prevent the catastrophe by all possible mans and addresses the US Congress and the parliaments of other countries to concentrate efforts to search for ways to settle the inter-Syrian crisis by peaceful means. At present, it is still impossible,” the draft statement says.

All Duma factions intend to support the document.

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Russian Information Agency Novosti
September 11, 2013

Russian Parliament Urges US to Drop Syria Attack Plans

MOSCOW: Russia’s lower house of parliament issued a statement on Wednesday urging the US Congress and parliaments of other countries to prevent a US attack on Syria.

The statement, initiated by Russian lower house speaker Sergei Naryshkin, was supported by 439 of the legislature’s 450 lawmakers.

On Tuesday night, US President Barack Obama pushed for a punitive strike against Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons. But he said that he would work with Moscow on its proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapon stockpiles under international control, and that he had asked the US Congress to put off a vote authorizing military action against Syria to give the diplomatic maneuver a chance.

“The intentions by the leadership of the United States and a number of other countries, in circumvention of the UN Security Council, to conduct missile- and airstrikes against an independent sovereign state – the Syrian Arab Republic – are unacceptable,” the Russian parliament’s statement said.

An attack against Syria could jeopardize nuclear and chemical security in the region and lead to more civilian deaths and, ultimately, a humanitarian catastrophe, the statement said.

President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia’s Syria plan would only be feasible if the United States and its allies pledged not to use force, adding that Moscow hoped Syria would accept international control over its chemical weapon stockpiles and also join the convention forbidding the use of chemical weapons.