The European Union is expected to impose more sanctions on Syria, according to an EU senior official. Russia is trying to set up meetings between the Syrian vice president and the opposition. Yesterday, another fifty anti-government protestors were killed by President Assad’s security forces.
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, met with President Assad on Tuesday to discuss a plan to end the violence that has gone on for 11 months now. According to the United Nations, there have been more than 5,400 people killed in the ongoing violence. The Arab League presented a resolution to the United Nations Security Council last week in hopes of persuading Assad to relinquish his power. However, Russia and China vetoed the resolution, which angered the United States and several other members of the Security Council.
Russia is not trying to get Assad to step down, which is what the opposition wants. Russia wants to let the Syrian people settle the conflict between the protestors and the government independently. Lavrov spoke with reporters on Tuesday and said both the opposition and government security forces are both responsible for the violence. Russia says that defectors from the Syrian military are playing a much larger role in the violence and believes that the country is on the brink of civil war.
The country is isolated in almost all of the international community. On Monday, the United States closed its embassy in Damascus. On Tuesday, six Arab countries and five European countries withdrew their ambassadors and staff out of the country, as well. There have also been several Syrian envoys forced to leave various countries, too.
The sanctions that the European Union will soon impose could include a ban on flights between Europe and Syria, a ban of phosphates from Syria, and a ban on any financial transaction with the Syrian central bank.
