Russia said that decisions made at Thursday’s ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting will intensify the two-year Syrian conflict by encouraging rebel extremists. The remark came as the US agreed to send $60 million in non-lethal aid directly to the opposition.
The moves announced at the Rome meeting "in spirit and in
letter directly encourage extremists to seize power by force,
despite the inevitable sufferings of ordinary Syrians that
entails," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aleksandr
Lukashevich said in a statement.
Lukashevich’s sentiments echoed remarks by Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov, who has repeatedly insisted that dialogue is the
only way forward.
"It seems that extremists who bet on an armed solution to the
Syrian problem have prevailed in the ranks of the opposition at
this time, including the so-called [Syrian] National Coalition,
blocking all initiatives that could lead to the start of
dialogue," Lavrov said in a statement on Tuesday.
Speaking after Thursday’s Friends of Syria meeting, US Secretary of
State John Kerry confirmed Washington’s plan to further assist the
Syrian rebels: "Given the stakes, the president will now extend
food and medical supplies to the Syrian opposition, including the
Supreme Military Council."
The decision to provide assistance directly to the opposition
represents a policy shift within the Obama administration. Until
now, the US has never directly delivered assistance to Syrian
rebels.
But it wasn’t just the US that vowed to increase aid to the Syrian
opposition, which has been fighting for the overthrow of Syrian
President Bashar Assad for almost two years. The European Union has
also amended sanctions on Syria to allow the supply of armored
vehicles, non-lethal military equipment and technical aid to the
opposition, provided they are used to protect civilians.
But the Syrian rebels are unlikely to lay down their arms anytime
soon, leading to fears of growing sectarian violence throughout the
country.
Last December, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry
on Syria found an increased presence of foreign fighters, many with
links to extremist groups. The commission also found that civilians
continue to bear the brunt of the conflict as the fighting moves
deeper into urban areas.
While the US and European Union have refused to provide the Syrian
rebels with weapons, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have no reservations.
Though the two nations have not discussed specific weapons
shipments to the rebels, both have been vocal supporters of arming
the opposition.
“As there is no clear international opinion to end the
crisis in Syria…we are supporting the opposition with whatever it
needs, even if it takes up arms for self-defense,” Qatari Prime
Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani said in a
statement last week.
The leader’s views seem to align with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud
al-Faisal: “My country believes that the brutality of the Syrian
regime against its own people requires empowering the people to
defend themselves," he said in a statement earlier this
month.
According to UN estimates, 70,000 people have died since the
country’s civil war began in March 2011. Some 860,000 Syrians have
fled abroad, and several million others have been displaced within
the country.