MOSCOW: Russia warned on Saturday that it would not cooperate with European Union sanctions requiring EU governments to search vessels suspected of carrying weapons into Syria, a defiant stance that is likely to spark anger in the West.
EU governments agreed the new embargo rules on Monday in an effort to prevent arms from reaching Syria, where 16 months of violence that Western nations blame mostly on the government has killed more than 18,000 people by some estimates.
Russia, which has blocked efforts to threaten the government with UN Security Council sanctions and has criticised Western embargoes, said it does “not intend to take any part in the measures to implement the EU decisions aimed against Syria.”
“We … will not consider appeals and give consent to searches of vessels sailing under the Russian flag, nor to the application of other restrictive measures to them,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
Russia has faced sharp Western criticism over arms deliveries to the Syrian government. President Vladimir Putin said last month that Moscow was not supplying any weapons that could be used in a civil conflict.
In January, sources in Russia and Cyprus said a Russian-operated ship carrying ammunition reached Syria after being temporarily halted during a refuelling stop in Cyprus. (Reuters)
