MOSCOW, September 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s lower house of parliament issued a statement on Wednesday urging the US Congress and parliaments of other countries to prevent a US attack on Syria.
The statement, initiated by Russian lower house speaker Sergei Naryshkin, was supported by 439 of the legislature’s 450 lawmakers.
On Tuesday night, US President Barack Obama pushed for a punitive strike against Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons. But he said that he would work with Moscow on its proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapon stockpiles under international control, and that he had asked the US Congress to put off a vote authorizing military action against Syria to give the diplomatic maneuver a chance.
“The intentions by the leadership of the United States and a number of other countries, in circumvention of the UN Security Council, to conduct missile- and airstrikes against an independent sovereign state – the Syrian Arab Republic – are unacceptable,” the Russian parliament’s statement said.
An attack against Syria could jeopardize nuclear and chemical security in the region and lead to more civilian deaths and, ultimately, a humanitarian catastrophe, the statement said.
President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia’s Syria plan would only be feasible if the United States and its allies pledged not to use force, adding that Moscow hoped Syria would accept international control over its chemical weapon stockpiles and also join the convention forbidding the use of chemical weapons.
