The Syrian opposition has expressed hope that Russia will put pressure on President Bashar al Assad's regime, Syrian opposition delegation leader in Moscow Radwan Ziadeh said on Tuesday.
"We hope that Russia will use its levers of pressure on the acting ruling Syrian regime to show that the actions of the Syrian leadership are absolutely inadmissible," Ziadeh said during a meeting with Russia's envoy to Africa, Mikhail Margelov.
Ziadeh also said that Russia's only friend in Syria is the Syrian people since "the leaders come and go, social systems come and go, but Russia's only faithful friend is the Syrian people."
He called on Russia to change its position and support the UN Security Council resolution on Syria, which is similar to the one passed against Libya in March. Russia has called for a diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis and warned against interfering in the country’s domestic affairs.
“We call on Russia to show a more positive approach in the Security Council. We want Russia not only to vote in support of the Security Council’s decisions, but also to be an originator of the changes that we urge,” the Syrian opposition leader said.
Margelov said that the talks with the Syrian delegation were "extremely useful and interesting" and helped to "understand our friends' position."
On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Syrian opposition's visit to Moscow should not be treated as a political move since it is a private visit by Syrian citizens to Russia without formal meetings with top Russian authorities.
