Russia will "study" suggestion for UN peacekeepers to Syria

Feb 13, 2012, 11:37 GMT

Moscow - Russia will study an Arab League suggestion that United Nations peacekeepers be sent to Syria - but violence in the country must end before the troops' deployment, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

'A mission to support peace needs to have peace in place at the very beginning, that can be maintained,' Lavrov said in comments reported by the Interfax news agency.

'There must be an agreement on a ceasefire,' he said.

The Kremlin's senior diplomat made the comments after meeting in Moscow with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The best way to bring violence in Syria to an end, Lavrov said, was for representatives of the Syrian opposition to begin talks with Vice President Farouk Sharaa.

Speaking at a press conference with Lavrov, UAE Foreign Minister Al-Nahyan said he believed a dialogue between the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition would not be possible, unless the Assad regime ended its persecution of government opponents.

The Arab League supported the Syrian opposition with material and political assistance, Al-Nahyan said, but had not provided military aid nor did it intend to.

Russia has been widely criticized by western governments for its recent veto, along with China, of a UN security council resolution that would have condemned Assad.

The Kremlin has long been a close ally of Assad and is one of Syria's top arms suppliers.

NATO nations recently used a UN authorization of force originally aimed at protecting civilians to carry out a bombing campaign that ultimately removed Libyan leader Moamer Gadaffi from power. Russia will not permit a similar military intervention to force regime change in Syria, Lavrov has said.

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