Assad resignation scenarios run counter to international law - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Scenarios of the immediate resignation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are "inappropriate and insane", since they contradict international law and the objective reality, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a press briefing on Thursday. According to her, all the talk about the resignation of this or that leader of a particular country "are outside the law." "Not only outside any internal legislative provisions or domestic legislation," she said. "There is the UN Charter where all provisions related to non-interference in internal affairs are enshrined. There are quite a few documents and provisions of international law, which take such arguments out of the legal framework." "Russia’s stance on President Assad’s resignation or non-resignation is well known," Zakharova noted. "It is based on international law and on understanding the reality of what is happening in the region. We have seen these so-called ‘immediate resignations.’ Those were not resignations but the elimination of the heads of state in Iraq and Libya. We have seen attempts that succeeded in some way but sometimes failed, thank God, in other countries of the region. We have seen the consequences of this policy, so, in addition to the legal component, there is the practical component as well." "The regime change scenario has not led to any positive results anywhere," the diplomat said. "Therefore, one can talk about the ‘immediate resignation’ as much as one wishes, but there is the law and there are practical aspects. Both indicate that such scenarios are not just inappropriate, in this case they are just insane." Read more