Russia is concerned over the intention of several Western countries to arm the Syrian opposition, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister said, according to Russian media.

As Gennady Gatilov said in his Twitter blog, arming the Syrian rebels contradicts the same countries’ statements that they want stability in Syria.

Earlier, Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on European countries not to arm the Syrian opposition. Otherwise, there will be a threat that the conflict in Syria may spread to other countries, Westerwelle believes.

This was Westerwelle’s reaction to a statement of his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, who said on Thursday, March 14 that if the EU does not lift the embargo on supplies of weapons to Syria, France and the UK will arm the Syrian opposition on a unilateral basis.