Dmitry Medvedev: I'll try to delve a bit deeper into the situation in your country. It is, of course, very dramatic and it started deteriorating during my tenure as president. I remember someone asking me at a press conference whether Russia was ready, alongside other countries, to take a decision on Syria similar to the decisions that had been taken in response to events in Libya. I said that we will never do so for several reasons, primarily because events in Libya took a dramatic turn when under the guise of the decisions taken by the Security Council – at one point, we supported these absolutely humanitarian decisions in order to save lives – a foreign intervention in a complex conflict was staged.
Russia has never been in favour of military solutions to problems that can be resolved using other means in sovereign states. In other words, we consider any foreign intervention, except as otherwise expressly provided by the UN Charter, including the right to self-defence, unacceptable and essentially criminal. I was guided by these considerations when I said that I find such developments in Syria unacceptable. Unfortunately, the events took on a dramatic turn, which, I believe, is another confirmation that military solutions to civil problems in your country would be unacceptable. The Syrians themselves must deal with them as part of an inter-religious dialogue based on established procedures that should take place in the country and internationally. If all this is taking place under the guise of UN resolutions and is accompanied by massive arms supplies, then we cannot support this. That is why neither President Vladimir Putin, nor I have ever supported such decisions.
The situation is complex, and it has been aggravated further following the events surrounding the use of chemical weapons. Our position has been presented by President Putin. These events should be thoroughly investigated. Certainly, the use of chemical weapons, regardless of who used them, is a crime against humanity and should be treated as an international crime. But the investigation should take place in accordance with international rules.
I believe that the Russian-American talks and the Russian initiative came at the right moment and allowed us to prevent an escalation of violence and abandon the military scenario in favour of a peace process. We hope that all promises will be delivered upon, including chemical disarmament and the decision to sign the convention taken by the Syrian side. This is the best way to go. I’m pleased that the Russian initiative was well received by our international partners, including the United States of America. Let's see how it’ll play out. Importantly, we should ensure the implementation of the Geneva agreements and the agreements reached at other forums.
You’ve mentioned the role of countries in the region. Representatives of regional countries, both Arab and non-Arab, are present here. I think it’s important for every state to understand its responsibility for what is happening in neighbouring countries. We may or may not like foreign rulers. We may have personal takes on different processes unfolding in neighbouring countries. That’s perfectly normal, especially if those countries are populated by people of the same faith or people that we care about.
However, the Russian leadership believes that this should not be used as a pretext to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries. We believe that the UN Charter and the international legal expertise gained from the late 19th to the present period clearly show that such conflicts should be resolved based exclusively on international law. All other solutions will lead us nowhere. We are aware that several conflicts that took place in your region didn’t bring any prosperity to the nations in question. Terrorist groups similar to Al Qaeda are spreading across the region. Has the world become safer as a result? No, it hasn’t. We believe that talks and chemical disarmament can be used to resolve many other problems, and this is the only way to go. All countries, including major countries in the region, should contribute to this process rather than block it. This is Russia’s stance.