Equipo Nizkor - Russia accuses U.S. of avoiding direct contacts with Moscow over Syria.

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04Sep13

Russia accuses U.S. of avoiding direct contacts with Moscow over Syria

Russian Foreign Ministry accused on Wednesday the United States of steadily avoiding direct contacts with Moscow over developments around Syria.
"Commencing Saturday, August 31, the U.S. State Department repeatedly requested phone call with (Russian Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov. Although we have constantly confirmed it, the U.S. side every time informed us there was no possibility to get through to the Secretary of State," ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.
He added that Russian attempts to set up an exact time for a phone conversation with John Kerry have also been left unanswered.
In a separate statement, the Foreign Ministry said U.S. intentions to carry out a military strike against Syria would contradict the core of international law.
"Response of the international community and separate states on chemical weapons use must fit the strict legal frames. Any reaction must be backed by the results of a thorough independent investigation," it said.
Moscow said if Damascus actually used chemical weapons, it could be qualified as violation of the international law.
Meanwhile, any potential military action against Syria without UN Security Council's sanction would "carry all attributes of aggression," the ministry said.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin also called the steps that Washington is considering now in relation to Syria "an aggression and absurd."
"They are sanctioning aggression because anything that is beyond the UN Security Council framework except self-defense is aggression," Putin told a meeting of the presidential Human Rights Council.
"What the U.S. Senate is doing now is in fact legitimizing aggression. What we should be talking about is that this is absurd in principle," Putin said.
[Source: Xinhua, Moscow, 04Sep13]

Syria War
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