Syria/Russia: Moscow to Resist Western Pressure on Syria

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November 29, 2011
A new round of sanctions against Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad puts significant international pressure on Moscow and Damascus. As Russia’s strategic and economic interests in Syria come into increasingly conflict with resounding calls for democracy and human rights in Syria, relations between Moscow and the West are likely to rapidly deteriorate since Moscow will continue to resist cutting its ties to Syria.
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2006 photo of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (left) and then-Russian President Vladimir Putin. (SERGEI KARPUKHIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Moscow once again condemned international involvement in the ongoing Syrian conflict on November 25, just two days before the Arab League imposed a new round of sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad and his regime’s eight-month-long military crackdown on the Syrian opposition. During a press conference, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich advocated internal dialogue between opposition forces and the Assad regime rather than foreign intervention, according to Reuters. The newest round of sanctions was passed by 19 of the Arab League’s 22 members after Assad refused to sign an agreement by November 25 to allow independent monitors entry into the country. Yesterday, thousands of Syrian protestors backed by the Assad regime took to the streets to rally against the new sanctions.

 


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