Russia said the world community should call on all sides in Syria including the opposition to stop violence, saying the Arab League’s recent peace plan for Syria should be made “concrete.”
“The Arab League’s position on the necessity to stop violence — irrespective from where it comes — needs to be made detailed and more concrete,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.
“For the realisation of the Arab League initiative, we propose that all the states that are concerned about the peaceful resolution of the events in Syria call not only on the Syrian authorities to stop violence but also all opposition groups, without exception.”
“This should be done both on behalf of the Arab League and those countries whose territory the opposition is working from,” Lavrov said.
Moscow, a key ally of Damascus from Soviet times, has refused to back Western calls for sanctions against the regime of Bashar al-Assad and repeatedly blamed the Syrian opposition for the unrest in the country.