Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov snubbed U.S. Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton by ducking her repeated phone calls to discuss a new U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria even as Moscow made it clear it would veto the draft.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington on Monday that Ms. Clinton had been trying unsuccessfully to connect with her Russian counterpart.
“The Secretary, frankly, has been trying to get Foreign Minister Lavrov on the phone for about 24 hours,” she said in Washington. “That's proven difficult.”
Mr. Lavrov, who is on a visit to Australia, confirmed that he had failed to take Ms. Clinton's calls because he was “in the middle of my meetings with Australian partners”. He added that U.S. complaints about not being able to get through to him “could probably be explained by [their] manners.”
Washington has been trying to persuade Moscow not to block the Arab-European draft resolution on Syria that may be put to the vote in the U.N. Security Council this week. “I don't know why Hillary would need to talk to me so urgently,” Mr. Lavrov said adding that Russia's top diplomats in New York were always available for contacts.
‘Will veto'
Moscow indicated it would veto the Western draft resolution on Syria, which called on President Bashar al-Assad to step aside or face “further measures” in 15 days' time. Russian diplomats said the draft did not rule out military action against Syria.
