Though the declaration still failed to put an end to hours of speeches, Russia has reiterated today that it intends to veto the anti-Syria resolution being pushed by the Arab League at the United Nations Security Council.
Russia has been fairly clear about this since before the resolution was even proposed, saying it would reject the vague draft over concerns that NATO or the Arab League would use the mention of unspecified “consequences” as an excuse to launch a military invasion.
After a day of long-winded speeches condemning Syria and Russia yesterday, mostly insisting that an invasion wasn’t even being considered, Russia’s ambassador Vitaly Churkin made the position clear again, saying any Syria resolution not explicitly ruling out military intervention would be vetoed. And despite the claims that Russia is merely being paranoid, there appears to be no interest in putting such assurances in writing.
Despite the resolution being dead on arrival, French FM Alain Juppe expressed hope that a deal could be reached with Russia that would allow the resolution to pass next week. He insisted the speeches by NATO members were “grounds for positive thinking.”
