Free Syrian Army fighters pose at a tank after capturing the Military Infantry School following heavy clashes with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo December 16, 2012. (Reuters / Zain Karam)The UN is considering the deployment of a peacekeeping mission in Syria, but this operation cannot be implemented without a ceasefire between the sides, says Russia’s Vice Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov. “There is neither peace [in Syria] for peacekeepers to keep, nor truce for them to monitor,” Gatilov told Interfax agency on Monday. Earlier, it was reported the UN was planning to send up to 10,000 peacekeepers to Syria as an emergency measure. According to the Russian Deputy FM, the UN contingency plan has been talked about over for some time as part of efforts for a settlement of the Syrian conflict. However, only the Security Council can give the go-ahead and only if certain conditions are met. In particular, the “receiving party” – the Syrian government – has to give its consent to the intervention. The government has repeatedly opposed to the idea of peacekeepers as “there is no clear separation line between the conflicting sides” and the opposition forces get increasing military and financial support from outside the coun
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try,” Gatilov pointed out. The opposition would also have to cooperate with the international contingent, he underlined. But President Assad’s opponents are against the plan as well. “Apparently, they fear external monitoring of their military activities,” the senior Russian diplomat noted.Moscow considers attempts to push resolutions authorizing the use of force in Syria – including those involving peacekeepers – through the UN Security Council as “unacceptable.”“Our position is based on the need to observe the international law and to take into account historic experience,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said. “One-sided logic, as was the case with Iraq, as well as deliberate violations and free interpretations of UN resolutions, as was the case in Libya,” only seriously aggravate the situation, he added. … Read More
Peacekeeping mission in Syria impossible – Moscow
US blocks ‘unbalanced’ UN Security Council statement calling for Gaza ceasefire
The United States has blocked a Moroccan-brokered UN Security Council call for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Gaza conflict, labeling it “unbalanced.”
“The draft press statement failed to address the root cause of the current escalation – the continuing barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel,” the spokeswoman for the US Mission to the UN, Erin Pelton, said in a statement.
He added that the “counter-productive” statement failed to support “the ongoing diplomacy toward de-escalation of violence and a durable outcome that ends the rocket attacks on Israeli cities and towns and restores a broader calm.”
Morocco proposed the statement last Thursday, and it would have been adopted automatically if no UN Security Council member spoke against it before 14:00 GMT. Security Council press statements require unanimous approval.
Russia said it is ready to propose the full resolution to halt the violence between Israel and Gaza.
Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said that document will focus on putting an end to the violence by a negotiated a ceasefire, support for international and regional efforts to settle the crisis peacefully and a call for the resumption of talks between Palestinians and Israelis on a wider range of problems.
Churkin sharply criticized the way the Moroccan statement was handled by the Council, accusing Western governments of “filibustering” it. He argued that three days was ample time to provide written comments, while Council members only commented orally.
Some say the Russian resolution has little chance of being adopted as it also does not claim that Hamas rocket attacks are the cause of the current conflict.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is in Israel in an attempt to stop the violence as it entered its seventh day. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also expected to arrive in Israel on Tuesday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and later with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Last week the IDF launched Operation Pillar of Defense to curb Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli territory. The operation began with an airstrike that killed the leader of Hamas’ military wing, Ahmed Jabari. At present the death toll from the conflict is over 120 Palestinians and five Israelis.
Russia and China veto UN resolution on Syria
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The U.N. Security Council scheduled a vote Thursday on a new Syria resolution after a last-minute delay failed to get key Western nations and Russia to agree on measures to end the dramatically escalating violence — but both sides remained deeply divided. … Read More
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