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Russia circulates draft resolution at UNSC in support of political settlement in Syria

"Our document starts out from the positive experience gained as a result of the local truce that was worked out in Homs," Vitaly Churkin said

© EPA/JASON SZENES

THE UNITED NATIONS, May 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia has circulated a draft resolution at the UN Security Council in support of local truces and a political settlement in Syria, Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the UN, told Itar-Tass on Tuesday after a closed-door meeting of the UNSC.

Churkin said the text of the draft resolution concerns the humanitarian aspects of the situation in Syria and is aimed at at supporting the dialogue between the sides. The text is based on the positive experience gained in working out a truce between Damascus and the rebels in Homs, he added. The truce there had taken effect on May 2. "The document says that it is necessary to help the political process forward. However, the main starting point was in the local truce which was achieved in Homs," the diplomat stated.

He pointed out that Russia's initiative is not a countermeasure in reply to the draft resolution which had been tabled by France last week and which envisages referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court in the Hague for consideration. "We consider that it is essential for us to move ahead. This is our idea of how a step forward can be made to help bring about a better atmosphere for a political settlement and, in general, straighten the state of affairs in Syria," Churkin said.

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Middle East and North Africa Foreign policy Geneva II Syria

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