Transcript: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Interview to Russian Media on Sidelines of 66th Session of UN General Assembly in New York, September 20, 2011

Transcript: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Interview to Russian Media on Sidelines of 66th Session of UN General Assembly in New York,

September 20, 2011

Question: The US is trying to persuade Russia to toughen its position on Syria. Is the Russian side ready to agree to imposing sanctions against the country?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: During yesterday's meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, we discussed this topic. The Russian position is well known; President Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly laid it out. Russia is not only ready to support a resolution on Syria, but we have our own draft, which a few weeks ago was circulated among the members of the Security Council of the United Nations and aims to stop any violence in the country – both government violence and the provocations of armed groups among peaceful demonstrators. A second objective of our resolution is to encourage the parties to sit down at the negotiating table to begin discussions on the future of Syria, on the reforms which President Bashar al-Assad has, if belatedly, suggested, and the holding of parliamentary elections that should be fair, free and compliant with democratic standards.

The resolution is on the negotiation table. At the same time, we actively support the mediation efforts of the League of Arab States; its Secretary General has visited Damascus and held meetings with President al-Assad. The League has concrete plans that following the negotiations will be reported to all members of the LAS. I think it is a responsible way. Nobody wants a repeat of the Libyan scenario.

The sanctions, which you asked about, are already imposed unilaterally by the US and EU. Yesterday we also discussed this aspect of the Syrian situation. Unilateral sanctions will never help the cause. For a discussion of a comprehensive strategy it's wrong to become fixated on sanctions. You need to follow the example of the representatives of the Arab League, who are trying to find a way toward agreement. We actively support them and participate in these efforts, working in parallel in the same direction. Following the recent visit to Damascus by the Special Presidential Representative and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who brought a message to Bashar al-Assad, a delegation of the Federation Council traveled to Syria a few days ago. It held a meeting with the Syrian President and visited several cities to get a first-hand glimpse of the situation on the ground. This kind of balanced approach, based on a desire to help the Syrian people themselves decide their own destiny, rather than on threats and interference from outside, will have a future, I think.

Question: Is there agreement among the Middle East Quartet members on the issue of recognizing a Palestinian state? Is it possible to hold a meeting of the Quartet?

Foreign Minister Lavrov: We tried to agree a collective position even during the July ministerial meeting of the Quartet in Washington. The proposals made by Russiaё the EU and UN did not receive US support. Unfortunately, we failed to adopt a document. In this case we have always said that our work in the Quartet on joint statements must serve the primary if not sole purpose – to encourage the parties to move towards negotiation, while at the same time showing the parameters of a final agreement. It's easy to do, because all the parameters are contained in the relevant UN Security Council decisions, General Assembly resolutions, previous Quartet statements, and the Arab Peace Initiative. They have always been confirmed by the international community, including the Quartet, as the immutable international legal framework for reaching agreements. This is our position.

No Quartet meeting is planned so far. Yesterday's discussion with the US Secretary of State has shown that the American side would like to see the Palestinian issue brought up in neither the UN Security Council nor the General Assembly. We believe it's more preferable to sit down at the negotiating table. But the parties are not yet ready for that, primarily because there is no agreement between them to keep in force the international legal framework achieved over decades of peace efforts on the Middle East, particularly Palestinian-Israeli track. In this situation the Palestinians can't be denied the right to ask the UN to speak out about the request that they will make in the next few days as Mahmoud Abbas meets with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.