Russia will not yield to Western demands on Syria

Rebels give Assad regime 48 hours to stop the violence

By AP and Yoel Goldman 31 May 2012, 12:36 am

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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking in Moscow in April (photo credit: AP/Misha Japaridze, File)

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman says Russia won’t surrender to Western demands to revise its position on the Syrian crisis.

Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency Wednesday that “there can be no talk” about a shift in Russia’s stance on Syria under foreign pressure. Peskov made the statement while commenting on Putin’s trip to Berlin and Paris set for Friday.

Peskov said that that Russia’s course on Syria has been “consistent and well-balanced.”

Russia, along with China, has twice shielded Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime from the United Nations sanctions over his crackdown on protests. Syria is Russia’s last ally in the region, providing Moscow with its only naval base outside the former Soviet Union and serving as a top customer for Russian weapons industries.

Syrian rebels on Wednesday gave the regime a 48-hour deadline to comply with an international peace plan to end the bloodshed or face the consequences.

In a statement posted on YouTube, Colonel Qassim Saadeddine of the Free Syrian Army warned that if the Assad government failed to stop the violence by Friday, “we are free from any commitment and we will defend and protect the civilians, their villages and their cities.”