Pushkov: Moscow won't agree to UNSC resolution on automatic use of force against Syria

Russia will not give the nod to a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force against Syria, said chairman of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov. "We will not agree, and we must not agree to a resolution authorizing automatic use of force against Syria should the United States and France find Syria guilty of any sort of violations," Pushkov said at an Open Rostrum roundtable in the State Duma on Tuesday, Voice of Russia reported. He criticized the argument that Russia can only do something real in cooperation with the leading western states and described it as dangerous. "Yes, we must walk this way as we did )cooperating with the leading western states) and this tendency should be consolidated. I agree. But the cooperative spirit must have its limits. We demonstrated maximum willingness to cooperate on Libya. The result is well known: We lost absolutely everything we could there, including in terms of image," Pushkov said. Russia has been opposing for two and a half years the adoption of a resolution that would authorize air strikes against Syria. Due to this Russia has gained much in terms of image, he said. "We are demonstrating that we can do quite a lot," he added. "What is meant here is the resolve to pursue our own line. Yes, Russia will be cooperative with the United States as much as possible and for as long as possible. But there are limits to this," Pushkov said.