Russia would be willing to support a “tough” but “balanced” UN Security Council resolution on Syria, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday after talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
After describing the difference in positions on Syria between Moscow and London as “no dramatic,” Medvedev said Russia favored a resolution that was “tough and balanced and addresses…both participants in the conflict.”
He also said that the resolution “should be stringent, but it should not lead to the automatic use of sanctions.”
Medvedev also said it was important that any resolution adopted by the UN Security Council should “not turn into a sort of resolution 1973.”
UN Security Council 1973 on Libya established a no-fly zone over Libya and led to NATO military intervention in the conflict.
The Syrian government has used force to crush the opposition protests, which followed a wave of uprisings in other Arab countries. The UN says at least 2,200 people have died since the start of the protests in March.
Cameron said there was “some level of agreement that what is happening in Syria is unacceptable and that what President Assad is doing to his own people is wrong and that the violence needs to stop.”
“But there is a different in perspective between Britain and Russia on this issue…we don’t see a future for President Assad in Syria…however we want to work together to get the best possible UN resolution.”
Cameron also said he would discuss violent Islamic extremism with Medvedev “over lunch.”
