MOSCOW, (SANA)- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said that the statements of the USA on the death of the Geneva agreement are irresponsible.

In an interview on the Arabic Sky News TV, Lavrov called for not 'burying' the Geneva agreement as this would lead to a large catastrophe.

"I never heard that the European countries or China or the representatives of the Arab countries rejecting implementing Geneva agreement. The U.S. statements that this agreement is of yesterday's remnants are serious but not realistic," he added.   

Lavrov stressed rejection of the idea of establishing a no-fly zone over Syria under the pretext of a "humanitarian crisis", adding that establishing this zone is a violation of Syria's sovereignty and of the UN Charter if this zone was in the Syrian lands.  

Russia Regrets Not Extending UNSMIS because of Some Security Council Members' Stances

The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed regret over not extending the mandate of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) as a result of the stances of a number of the Security Council members.

The Ministry stressed in a statement issued on Friday the importance of maintaining the UN presence in Syria which is aimed at resolving the crisis in it in the framework of the plan of the UN envoy Kofi Annan and the agreements of the Action Group in Geneva.

The statement made it clear that among the tasks of the UN new office in Syria is following up the situation on the ground and urging the Syrian parties to halt the violence as soon as possible and start political dialogue.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow highly values the role of the UNSMIS in Syria in boosting the progress towards solving the conflict, highlighting Russia's effective participation in the mission's activities in terms of sending Russian observers among its team.

It considered that the presence of the international observers helped in reducing the acuity of violence in Syria particularly in the first stage.

Gatilov: Suspending UNSMIS Deprives International Community of Objective Information

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said that the suspension of the UNSMIS in Syria will deprive the international community of objective information about what is happening there, which will have negative repercussions.

In a statement to Russia's Interfax news agency, Gatilov said that despite this, international presence will continue in Syria as a UN office has been opened there to monitor the situation on the grounds and encourage Syrian sides to end bloodshed and initiate dialogue, adding that the new international presence in Syria allows for modifying it according to security developments.

He said that the UNSMIS showed lack of bias and documented the violations of Kofi Annan's plan by all sides, adding that there was a decrease in violence during the early days of the UNSMIS' work in Syria.

Gatilov also said that Russia hopes that observers will return to Syria after a ceasefire is achieved.

Bugdanov Reiterates Russia's Firm Stance on the Peaceful Solution to Syria Crisis

Special Representative of Russian President to the Middle East and Deputy Foreign Minister, Michael Bugdanov, reiterated Russia's firm stance on the necessity of ending bloodshed and violence in Syria by all sides and addressing internal issues in peaceful ways through dialogue that leads to national reconciliation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Bugdanov's remarks came during his meeting on Friday with the Syrian ambassador in Moscow, Riyad Haddad. 

Office of Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN: Work Group Meeting on Syria Postponed

The Office of the Russian Permanent Representative to the UN, Vitaly Curkin, announced that the meeting of the work group on Syria was postponed to unspecified date.

ITAR-TASS news agency said that statement released by the office announced that the meeting was postponed upon the request of some participants.

Earlier, Churkin has announced that the meeting of the work group was intended to back Geneva agreements on Syria.

English Bulletin