Russia opposes no-fly zone over Syria

Moscow, Aug 18 (IANS) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Saturday said Moscow opposes the idea of setting up a no-fly zone over Syria as it would be a violation of Syria’s sovereignty.

The creation of a no-fly zone over Syria would violate the UN Charter, Xinhua reported citing Lavrov’s interview with Sky News Arabia.
“If these zones are going to cover the territory of the Syrian state, this will constitute a violation of its sovereignty and of the UN Charter,” Lavrov said.
He said Moscow believes the imposition of the no-fly zone “under the pretext of preventing a humanitarian crisis” in Syria was unacceptable.
Lavrov said the reason Russia and China vetoed draft resolutions submitted by Western countries to the UN Security Council on the Syria issue was that the two countries hoped to safeguard the basic principles of “respect for other countries’ national sovereignty” and “non-interference in other nations’ internal affairs” as enshrined in the UN Charter.
According to Xinhua, during a recent visit to Turkey, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed that the US was considering a no-fly zone option in Syria.