The New York Times – by David M. Herszenhorn
MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister dismissed as unconvincing the evidence presented by Secretary of State John Kerry of chemical weapons use by the Syrian government, saying on Monday that the United States had fallen far short of making a case for international cooperation on military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
“We were shown certain pieces of evidence that did not contain anything concrete, neither geographical locations, nor names, nor evidence that samples had been taken by professionals,” Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov said in a speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
Mr. Lavrov’s remarks signaled that Russia would continue to block the United Nations Security Council from authorizing military intervention against the Syrian government, even if the United States Congress grants President Obama the backing he has requested for an attack.
Mr. Lavrov initially appeared to have developed a strong working relationship with Mr. Kerry, a striking contrast with the often acrimonious relationship that Mr. Lavrov had with Mr. Kerry’s predecessor, Hillary Rodham Clinton. But the Kerry-Lavrov relationship has soured swiftly in recent weeks, particularly after Mr. Obama canceled a planned meeting in Moscow with President Vladimir V. Putin.
“What we were shown before and recently by our American partners, as well as by the British and French, does not convince us at all,” Mr. Lavrov said on Monday. “There are no facts, there is simply talk about ‘what we definitely know.’ But when you ask for more detailed evidence, they say that it is all classified, therefore it cannot be shown to us. This means there are not such facts to encourage international cooperation.”
Mr. Lavrov also took a direct jab at Mr. Kerry. “It is very strange to hear, when we recently discussed the issue, my good colleague, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, say that the American side had produced irrefutable evidence for Russia of the Assad regime using chemical weapons, and then claiming that Russians deliberately refused to recognize the fact.”
Later, at a news conference in Moscow with the South African foreign minister, Mr. Lavrov said Russia would insist that the United States comply with international agreements and not attack Syria without the consent of the Security Council.
“If someone tries to make gross violations of international law a norm, then we will create chaos,” Mr. Lavrov warned. “We will create a situation where the U.N. Charter and the principles under which all the nations of the world have signed up, including the principle of unanimous agreement of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the so-called right of veto, which the United States insisted on — then all of these principles will simply collapse.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/world/middleeast/russia-syria.html?emc=eta1&_r=0