ST. PETERSBURG: Russia on Thursday called for all its partners for objective assessment of the situation around Syria, adding that it is not blocking the work of the UN Security Council.
“Russia attempts to call on its partners, including the partners in Washington, for objective assessment of the situation, for not taking the decisions before the official verdict of the UN experts working in Syria,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the Group of Twenty (G-20) briefing.
The two-day summit of the G-20 began on Thursday in the Russian city of St. Petersburg at which global leaders want to forge a united front on growth, trade, banking transparency and fighting tax evasion but rift over Syria is likely to overshadow the event.
The summit comes against a backdrop of frosty relations between the United States and Russia on possible military intervention in Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad over a chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people on August 21.
A planned one-on-one meeting ahead of the G-20 between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin was scrapped when it became clear the pair would not find common ground over the alleged chemical attacks.
Moreover, China has warned that military intervention in Syria would hurt the world economy and push up oil prices.
