By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia’s stance on Syria has always been based on the principles of international law and it will not change, the foreign ministry said.
A number of European and US diplomats called on Moscow to change its position on the Syrian conflict now that the March 4 presidential elections were over.
“In this regard, we would like to call on our American and European partners not to indulge in wishful thinking,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russia’s position was neither agenda-driven nor a subject for domestic election processes, it said.
The ministry said Russia’s approaches to all domestic conflicts in foreign countries are based on international regulations and the UN Charter.
“First of all, it is about the inadmissibility of interference from abroad, more particularly of a forceful one. In this regard, it would be suitable to stress again that the achievement of a stable Syrian settlement is possible only on the basis of a broad all-national dialogue within which only Syrians will decide on the future development of their government,” the statement said.
Putin had earlier warned the West not to interfere in Syria in the run-up to the March 4 vote, and accused the US of “political engineering” in regions that were “traditionally important” to Russia.
Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Syria last month and bowed out of an international conference aimed at applying more pressure on the Damascus government over its crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Rights groups say more than 7,000 people have been killed in almost a year of unrest, which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad blames on “armed terrorist gangs”.