UNITED NATIONS, April 6. /TASS/. Russia has lambasted Britain’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, who blamed the Syrian people’s suffering on Moscow. According to Vladimir Safronkov, Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN, the British diplomat’s "totally irresponsible, disrespectful and unprofessional statement" stems from the fact that London is doing nothing to normalize the situation in Syria.
Safronkov noted that Rycroft’s remarks concerning Russia and China are "beyond the bounds of diplomatic decency." "This is absolutely inadmissible, this should not be repeated. We will no longer listen to this," he said. He added that it is the UK rather than Russia that "ignores the seat in the Security Council" being obsessed with regime change and trying to promote its "illegal plans" through the Security Council.
Speaking at a Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Rycroft asserted that by defending the Syrian government, Russia makes Syria’s population suffer. "Each and every abuse of their veto has consequences. For the people of Khan Sheikhoun, those consequences have been unspeakable," he said referring to the alleged chemical use incident on April 4.
The British envoy also tried to drive a wedge between Moscow and Damascus arguing that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "humiliates Russia in the eyes of the world by intensifying his attacks, by reducing the Astana ceasefire to rubble." "Assad humiliates Russia by showing just how empty Syria’s promise was to remove all its chemical weapons," Rycroft said.
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In response to that, Safronkov asked his colleague to give up attempts to put Russia at odds with "the peoples of Syria, Iraq and other peoples in the Middle East." "I thought that the British diplomacy had long parted with these rudimentary methods. We need to think seriously about this. I repeat that we will not be able to resolve the Syrian crisis and other world problems, including aggressive terrorism, without joining forces in earnest. We are ready for collective work," he emphasized.
Rycroft has made statements in the past that sparked criticism from Russian diplomats. In February, Russian Permanent Representative Vitaly Churkin, commenting on the British diplomat’s remarks about Crimea’s status, recommended his country to "cleanse its conscience" by returning Gibraltar and other annexed territories and then elaborate on other issues.