Global General

Medvedev opposed to UN vote on Syria-FT

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-06-20 09:24

LONDON - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has practically ruled out supporting a United Nations resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

In an interview with the newspaper, Medvedev criticised the way Western countries had interpreted UN resolution 1973 on Libya which he said turned it into "a scrap of paper to cover up a pointless military operation".

"I would not like a Syrian resolution to be pulled off in a similar manner," he added.

Russia abstained in the March vote that cleared the way for military action in Libya to protect civilians. It has subsequently accused the coalition of overstepping its mandate.

"We will be told the resolution reads "denounce violence", so some of the signatories may end up denouncing the violence by dispatching a number of bombers," Medvedev was quoted as saying.

"In any event, I do not want it to be on my head."

The main part of Medvedev's interview with the newspaper was dedicated to domestic politics. He strongly hinted that he and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would not run against each other for president in 2012.