‘Two or three days’ needed to pass Syria resolution – Churkin to RT

With many accusing Russia of deepening the crisis in Syria by vetoing the recent resolution at the UN Security Council, Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, says the document could have been signed if more time had been allowed for talks.

“I believe that if in fact our colleagues in the Security Council had accepted our proposal to extend our discussions for two or three days we could have found solutions which would help to end the violence in Syria,” Churkin told RT.He also said that apparently some linguistic misunderstandings took place during the discussions on the resolution, and there was not enough time to clarify them.It had been noticed that as government forces in Syria left certain towns, these towns had immediately been taken by armed rebel groups and that is why Russia suggested amendments to the resolution which would restrain not only Assad`s forces, but also the opposition. However, Churkin said, Russia’s proposal was interpreted incorrectly.The envoy believes that negotiations are the only outcome possible for the situation in Syria.“Every conflict needs to be resolved through negotiations,” he said. “There are two ways: one is a frontal attack against the regime, which means bloodshed and civil conflict spreading beyond the borders of Syria.”The other way, he said, is “trying to put the parties at the table and to arrange dialogue among them in order to find a political solution without further bloodshed.” Russia supports the latter way and has been urging Syria’s opposition to come to Moscow to talk to the representatives of the Damascus government, Churkin stated.Commenting on the recent mass withdrawal of Western diplomats from Damascus, Churkin said he does not see this as connected to the visit of a Russian delegation. “Of course it can be read as a prelude to some kind of confrontational scenario… but I hope this is something which is done on the basis of a security analysis of the situation.”