Putin Says Russia Will Not Shift on Syria
President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday that Russia's position on Syria would not shift under pressure despite the crisis likely topping the agenda during his upcoming visits to Berlin and Paris.
"Russia's position is well-known. It is balanced and consistent and completely logical," Interfax quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
"So it is hardly appropriate to talk about this position changing under someone's pressure."
Peskov said Russia's refusal to back further action against the regime after last week's Houla massacre and other attacks on civilians was based on an approach "completely free of emotions, which are hardly appropriate here."
Putin is expected to face a grilling from both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on Friday during his first foreign tour since being sworn in for a third Kremlin term.
Hollande in particular has upset Russia by refusing to rule out foreign military intervention to stamp out nearly 15 months of fighting that observers believe has claimed some 13,000 lives.
Moscow is also coming under growing pressure from Washington to at least back broader financial sanctions against its Soviet-era ally.
The White House on Wednesday accused Russia and fellow Syrian sanctions opponent China of being on "the wrong side of history" and dispatched the U.S. Treasury's financial intelligence chief to Moscow for further talks.
Source: Agence France Presse
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