Moscow does not consider the U.S-backed Friends of Syria Group legitimate, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.
On Sunday, the next day after Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution on Syria pushing for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed setting up a group that would “work with the friends of a democratic Syria around the world to support the opposition’s peaceful, political plans for change.”
Lukashevich said Moscow sharply opposed any formats aimed at boosting an outer interference to the country's domestic affairs.
“We are very cautious about various formats which we don’t consider legitimate in terms of international legal norms,” Lukashevich said.
Lukashevich also expressed Russia’s concern about recent reports by Israeli media that British and Qatari troops had been sent to Syria to fight Assad’s government forces.
At least 5,400 people have been killed in the Syrian government's 11-month crackdown on protesters, according to the UN. Syrian authorities blame the violence on armed gangs affiliated with al-Qaeda and say more than 2,000 soldiers and police have been killed.
