Putin supports US initiative on UN Security Council resolution on Syria

MOSCOW, December 17./TASS/. / Russian President Vladimir Putin supports the US initiative to prepare a resolution of the UN Security Council on Syria, saying its suits Moscow on the whole. "On the whole - and I will probably say an important thing now - we support the initiative of the United States, including on working out a resolution of the UN Security Council on Syria," he said on Thursday. "It is this draft resolution that US Secretary of State (John Kerry) came to Moscow with," he added. "I think that after the Syrian authorities familiarize themselves with the draft resolution, they will also find it suitable," he said, admitting that there could be certain points they may not like. "In the attempt to solve the conflict that has continued for many years, a compromise is always possible, but concessions must be made on both sides," he explained at the annual news conference. "We believe that on the whole it is an acceptable proposal," Putin said, adding that certain points still had to be worked on. The US initiative shows that this country and Europe "are highly concerned about what is going on in the Middle East, in Yemen, in Syria and Iraq," Putin said. "We will be contributing in very way to the settlement of this crisis and will seek to see that the solutions that can be found suit all parties no matter how difficult the situation could look," he added. The president said that in the first place joint work was needed on a new constitution of Syria, after which a credible mechanism of control over the possible future elections should be created. "And then, on the basis of these very democratic procedures, Syria must determine itself what forms of government are more acceptable there and who should be at the head of the country," he summed up. Read more