Russian Says Western Support for Arab Revolts Could Cause a «Big War»

Russia’s foreign minister warned Wednesday that outside encouragement of antigovernment uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa could lead to «a very big war that will cause suffering not only to countries in the region, but also to states far beyond its boundaries».

Mr. Lavrov said Russia would use its position on the United Nations Security Council to veto any United Nations authorization of military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. The United Nations has repeatedly called for Syria end a crackdown on opposition demonstrators, which Arab League monitors say resulted in hundreds of deaths over the past month.

«If someone conceives the idea of using force at any cost – and I’ve already heard calls for sending some Arab troops to Syria – we are unlikely to be able to prevent this», Mr. Lavrov said. «But this should be done on their own initiative and should remain on their conscience. They won’t get any authorization from the Security Council».

Mr. Lavrov said foreign governments were arming «militants and extremists» in Syria, and he gave a bristling response to the American ambassador to the United Nations, who on Tuesday expressed concern about possible Russian arms shipments to Syria.

«We don’t find it necessary to explain or justify anything», Mr. Lavrov said. «We are only trading goods with Syria that are not prohibited by international law».

Russia’s foreign minister offered a similarly grave message about the possibility of a military strike against Iran, which he said would be a «catastrophe». He said sanctions now being proposed against Tehran were «intended to have a smothering effect on the Iranian economy and the Iranian population, probably in the hopes of provoking discontent».

Relations between Moscow and Washington have worsened over the past year, as the cordial tone of the «reset» between President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev has been replaced by a drumbeat of criticism. Mr. Lavrov said that Russia and the United States were not adversaries, and that «the cold war ended a long time ago». By contrast, however, he was glowing about Russia’s cooperation with China, which he said was «the highest in the history of our bilateral relationship».

18/01/ 2012, the International Herald Tribune

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