STOCKHOLM, September 3 (Itar-Tass) - Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan opposes a military solution to the Syrian conflict. He made this statement delivering a lecture at Uppsala University on Monday evening.

According to Annan, the international community must stop the bloodshed, in order “to reach a political agreement and free the Syrians from the terror in which they live.” The politician believes that the international community had a chance to stop the civil war in Syria last summer. “Instead, the leaders began to quarrel and blame each other,” he stressed.

“Today, there is a debate that is necessary to punish those who had used chemical weapons in Syria. This is unacceptable and cruel. We need to deal with all those responsible,” Annan stated.