Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Friday that Moscow will not push Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit, saying it would be against Russian policy and in any case would be futile.
Russia will "absolutely not" tell Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down to end the civil war, he said.
"It is not for us to decide who should lead Syria. It is for the Syrians to decide," Lavrov said in a BBC interview.
The statement marks Russia's refusal to urge its ally Assad to stand aside to end the two-year conflict in Syria, which the UN says has claimed 70,000 lives.
"You know that we are not in the regime-change game. We are against interference in domestic conflicts. This is our position, which should be of no surprise to anyone," Lavrov continued.
He said the departure of Assad should not be a pre-condition for negotiations to end the conflict because it was highly unlikely to happen.
"He is not going to leave, we know this for sure - all those who get in touch with him know that he is not bluffing," the Russian minister said.
He added: "We have been against any pre-conditions to stop the violence and start the dialogue because we believe priority number one is to save lives."
Lavrov said he saw signs of flexibility.
"I'm glad that the latest discussions and the latest gestures from the opposition, and statements from some of those who support the opposition, hint that they would be prepared to start negotiations with some negotiating team without asking President Assad to step down," he was quoted as saying.
Russia has blocked three U.N. Security Council resolutions meant to push Assad out or press him to end violence, a position that has set it against Western and Arab nations which say he must leave power.
Syria thanks BRICS countries for support
Meanwhile, a top Syrian regime official thanked the BRICS group of emerging powers on Friday for its support, which she said had prevented Western military intervention and the "destruction" of the country.
Bouthaina Shaaban, a cabinet-level adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, told reporters in New Delhi that Damascus was grateful to the BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
"Thank God there is Russia and China and India and Brazil in the BRICS countries who at least are introducing reason into what is happening in the international community because otherwise we would have faced what Libya has faced." she said.
Shabaan, who met with the Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid, is touring the capitals of the BRICS bloc in a bid to marshal support for the Syrian president.
|We are grateful for their balanced stand and for their support but I think they could be more proactive in finding a solution for Syria,| she said. "We would like you to be more vocal, to come out more strongly in support of stopping violence. I think the BRICS countries carry more weight than they are showing so far... and I think they can do more."
08 Mar, 2013
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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/08/Russia-won-t-pressure-Assad-to-quit-Russian-FM-.html
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