French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe expressed doubt Tuesday that Western powers would be able to win Russia over to a draft UN resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
Speaking to Europe 1 radio before leaving for a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, Juppe said the 11-month conflict in Syria, which the UN estimates has killed over 5,400 people, was ‘a real scandal.’
But he was doubtful that Russia could be persuaded to support the latest Western-backed resolution, which was drafted on the basis of on an Arab League peace plan.
‘Alas, I’m not sure,’ he said when asked whether the text had a chance of succeeding.
‘We’re blocked by a number of countries, mainly Russia, which opposes every resolution (on Syria),’ he said.