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Russia refuses to support UN resolution accusing Syria of gross violations of human rights

The resolution presented by Saudi Arabia was approved by the majority of votes: it was supported by 125 countries

© TASS/EPA/YOUSSEF BADAWI

UNITED NATIONS, November 19. /TASS/. Russia on Tuesday did not support the resolution passed by the U.N. General Assembly Third Committee accusing Syria of gross violations of human rights.

The resolution presented by Saudi Arabia was approved by the majority of votes: it was supported by 125 countries while 13 states came against and another 47 abstained.

Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights Anatoly Viktorov said the resolution created “the atmosphere of confrontation and mistrust”. “It happens when the international community should consolidate efforts to reach the peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic,” he said.

The document’s authors “act against the logic of political and diplomatic settlement by placing responsibility upon the government when not the government but the foreign opposition is needed to be pushed to starting talks with the authorities”, Viktorov said.

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