Russian FM to discuss Syria with UN-Arab League envoy
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E-mail Xinhua, May 29, 2012
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he will soon discuss the Syrian situation with UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in a telephone conversation.
Lavrov told reporters that he and Annan agreed to talk Tuesday afternoon, during which he would get "a first-hand account" from the former UN chief about his contacts with Syria.
Russia was concerned about "ongoing attempts to derail the Annan plan," Lavrov said.
The domestic turmoil in Syria has already affected neighboring Lebanon and could cast shadows over the entire region.
Lavrov urged both sides to refrain from "adding oil to the fire" in Syria and called for them "to sit down at the negotiating table."
During a meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday, Lavrov said the implementation of Annan's plan was "unsatisfactory."
Lavrov said Russia needs to pressure "both the regime and the opposition to make them stop killing each other, stop military actions, in which civilians are killed, and begin negotiations."
The foreign minister said that both the government and extremist groups were responsible for the carnage that killed more than 100 people, including children, in the west-central Syrian village of Houla.
He said that killings showed there was still "a long way to achieve" Annan's six-point peace plan that calls for a cease-fire from all parties.
He also noted that Russia was alarmed by individual countries' attempts to "manipulate these events as a pretext" for an external military intervention in Syria.
