BRICS leaders come out for peaceful settlement in Syria - declaration

JOHANNESBURG, July 26. /TASS/. The BRICS countries confirmed in their declaration commitment to political settlement of the Syrian conflict, as well as concentrated on other trouble spots in the Middle East and in Asia. "We reaffirm our commitment for a political resolution of the conflict in Syria, through an inclusive "Syrian-led, Syrian-owned" political process that safeguards the state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria, in pursuance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015) and taking into account the result of the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue in Sochi," says the declaration approved at the summit of the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in Johannesburg. The BRICS countries reiterated support "for the Geneva process and the mediation offered by the UN, as well as the Astana process which has been showing signs of positive developments on the ground, and stress the complementarity between the two initiatives". "We reaffirm our commitment to a peaceful resolution in Syria and our opposition to measures that run contrary to the UN Charter and the authority of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and that do not contribute to advancing the political process. We also highlighted the importance of unity in the fight against terrorist organisations in Syria in full observance of the relevant UNSC Resolutions," the Johannesburg Declaration said. The BRICS leaders condemned "the use of chemical weapons by any party, for any purpose and under any circumstances and renew calls for comprehensive, objective, independent, and transparent investigations of all alleged incidents". The declaration also mentioned "the ongoing conflict and major humanitarian crisis in the Republic of Yemen" and the worsening of the situation in Afghanistan. Read more