Comment by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov after Meeting with Foreign Ministers of the G20 Member States and UN/LAS Special Envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on the Sidelines of the G20 Summit in St.Petersburg

Sergey Lavrov: We used the participation of Foreign Ministers of key-countries in the G20 Summit in St.Petersburg, as well as the fact that UN and Arab League Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi was part of the delegation of Secretary General Pan Gi Moon to set-up a working lunch where we shared our opinions on the situation in Syria in an informal atmosphere, following-up on yesterday’s conversation between state leaders at dinner.
The standings are well-known, they were all voiced today. The most important thing is that we tried (as did the state leaders yesterday during dinner) to not only listen, but hear each other.
I cannot say that it was the predominant opinion, but a clear understanding is taking shape among many responsible states that the use of force, bypassing the UN Security Council, would essentially put an end to efforts to reach a political settlement and convene the international conference “Geneva-2”, which is precisely what our friend and colleague L.Brahimi is working on. That is why the general conclusion of today’s meeting is that it is essential to do everything possible in order to not let the force scenario overcome the political scenario. There is still time for that.
As you know, Russian parliamentarians proposed a meeting with their American counterparts to share opinions, evaluations and standings at that level, all the more so as it is in the hands of the U.S. Congress to decide whether to use force against Syria. Unfortunately, American lawmakers could not find time for such a meeting. Nevertheless, until the worst happens we need to use every day, hour and minute to publically and via trustworthy channels get out the message of harmfulness of the force scenario. I hope the participants of today’s meeting understand this. We will try to continue such work.
S.Lavrov (in addition to Lakhdar Brahimi’s commentary): I would like fully support what Lakhdar Brahimi said about the necessity to respect the UN Charter. Apart from this legal obligation, each state should carry out its political commitments achieved in various formats. In this context, I would like to recall once again that during the G8 Summit in Lough Erne in June leaders of eight nations, including four UN Security Council members – United States, United Kingdom, France and Russia have signed a Joint Declaration. First of all, it stated that any use of chemical weapons by any party is condemned. Secondly, any information on the use of chemical weapons should be objectively and professionally investigated and the results are to be provided to the UN Security Council. Therefore there is even a particular political obligation relating to the Syrian crisis not to bypass the UN Security Council, especially, in the topic of whether chemical weapons were used and who was responsible.
Now we hear our American colleagues say that they have it all figured out and that they have irrefutable evidence (which they do not provide to us in full), hence there is no need for them to wait for the results of the inspectors’ work, nor for the outcome of the UN Security Council consideration.
However, we are going to stick to a principle reflected in one of the wisest Russian proverbs respected and considered as guidance for action by President Ronald Reagan – “trust but verify”. And verification is possible only on the basis of objective facts and only by such legitimate organizations as the UN Security Council.
Question: Is it clear when the UN expert examination, conducted over the information about the use of chemical weapons in Syria will be completed?
S.Lavrov: As Lakhdar Brahimi pointed out, there are scientific guidelines which the inspectors follow.