March 12, 2013 - 20:47 AMT
Moscow slams U.S. stance on Syria

Moscow criticized on Tuesday, March 12 what it described as the United States' biased interpretation of the Geneva Communiqué as supporting the Syrian opposition, RIA Novosti reported.

“Public statements by representatives of the U.S. administration in support of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces in fact point to a one-sided interpretation of the Geneva Communique,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

“This naturally complicates the search for ways to put an end to the armed confrontation in Syria and put the conflict on course for an all-Syria dialog.”

Lukashevich reiterated that the document, agreed on in Geneva last summer by all the key parties with an interest in the Syria issue, including the United States, unequivocally calls for a transitional administrative body to be formed through negotiations between the authorities and the opposition, which will control the country until nationwide elections.

“The Geneva consensus leaves no room for any ‘interpretation',” Lukashevich said.

The U.S. State Department said on Monday that Washington will keep supporting the Syrian opposition because that is the only possible way to resolve the conflict in the country.