In the near future, the honorable people of the world will tag Russia with shame due to its opportunistic, provocative and criminal positions towards the Syrian revolution. Indeed, Vladimir Putin and his government are still fiercely defending Bashar al-Assad even after he killed 40,000 Syrians, while participating – alongside his thugs – in the killing of Syria's children by supplying his regime with weapons and assistance, either through the use of the veto power at the Security Council or through their obstinacy in all the international forums. Ever since the eruption of the Syrian revolution, Russia has been insisting on opposing it, and on arrogantly rejecting all the international attempts calling on Al-Assad to step down to end the regime's violence against the Syrian people. Russia is doing so under false pretexts, which confirms it is a state that completely disregards human rights and the international charters. Last Wednesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Riyadh with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council states, in the second ministerial gathering of its kind to engage in strategic dialogue between the GCC states and Russia. The meeting was unfriendly and non-positive, after Moscow jumped over all the solutions and the reality of what is happening on the ground in terms of killing, destruction, torture and arrests, while eluding the formation of the Syrian National Coalition and its recognition by many states. Lavrov rejected the solutions and flaunted his relations with Arab states, although aware of the mounting hatred felt towards his country due to its inhumane positions against the Syrian people. He indicated to the Gulf states' foreign ministers that the Syrian issue was not on the agenda of the meeting which was agreed on two months ago, arrogantly believing there was no need for a new resolution by the Security Council because the Geneva statement was enough. Paradoxically, Lavrov had stated a year ago in Riyadh – during the first meeting – that the Gulf initiative on Yemen was archetypical and should be adopted to solve the various political crises. Yet, the Russian position at the level of the Syrian crisis is growing more stringent towards the proposed solutions, in response to interests and wishes primarily governing its relations with Iran. Hence, the Russian minister ignored what he said in the past and assured that the discontinuation of the violence should be done by both sides (i.e. the government and the opposition), adding that linking the crisis to Al-Asssad's departure will increase the bloodshed and establish parity between the victim and the executioner. This marked a clear insistence on thwarting every solution to uphold his country's interests with Al-Assad and Iran. It is known that the relations between Moscow and Tehran are strong and feature the exchange of positions. Hence, Iran did not care about the massacres committed by Russia in Chechnya in the 1990s, and Russia was the one that completed the construction of the Iranian Bushehr nuclear reactor. Moreover, the two countries share important strategic points in the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus and Azerbaijan. And in accordance with the Russian insolence and the complete disregard of the daily slaughters and bloodshed targeting the innocent throughout the Syrian towns and provinces, Lavrov reminded the Gulf states' foreign ministers that the opposition on the domestic arena was not invited to the Doha meeting, and that his country only recognized a unified opposition. By saying so, he completely ignored the Syrian National Coalition and the international recognition it earned. Is there a worse form of insolence, impudence and ability to maneuver and promote illusions? Lavrov knows better than anyone else that the opposition on the domestic arena is being slaughtered and imprisoned by Al-Assad's thugs, and that the regime would only allow its members to exit Syria in coffins carried by Russian aircrafts. This is the second meeting between the GCC states and Russia, and I do not know why Russia was not pressured and why it was not cancelled, especially since Moscow aspires to build partnerships with the Gulf states, as well as close relations with them in several commercial, industrial and economic areas. I believe that Lavrov should have been informed that the meeting will not discuss Gulf-Russian relations, but rather the Syrian file alone, and that the latter file will be the only one on the agenda. This would have prevented him from stating while in Riyadh that it was not agreed to discuss the Syrian issue in advance. The Russian obstinacy and political tone have not changed, and this requires the increase of the pressures on it, while threatening to withdraw the GCC ambassadors from Moscow. Moreover, the Syrian National Coalition must be assisted in presenting a draft resolution to the Arab League and the Islamic Cooperation Organization (57 states) against the Russian positions, calling for the freezing of its membership since it is attending the organization's activities which aim at saving Syria's children as an observer. What is certain is that Lavrov is lying and maneuvering and that his country is Al-Assad's partner in the killing of the Syrians. Its current policy will definitely harm it, considering that the brutality of Al-Assad's regime is failing to defeat the revolutionaries and even fueling the wrath of the Syrian people in a way that will imminently burn its thugs, allies and supporters. [email protected] twitter | @JameelTheyabi
