Russia denies Qatar threat
Ambassador Vitaly Churkin also claimed a UN resolution could have passed if western governments had waited another two or three days.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdBut yesterday Mr Churkin was facing very different accusations.
He called a press conference to deny reports circulating on the internet that he responded to a warning by Qatar not to veto the resolution by saying Russia would wipe his country off the map. Mr Churkin said Russia’s UN mission has been deluged with calls about the reports, which he said were “lies”.
The report quoted Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem as telling Mr Churkin a veto would cause Russia to “lose all the Arab countries,” and Mr Churkin as responding that if Sheikh Hamad spoke to him “in this tone once again… there will be no such thing as Qatar after today.”
Qatar has not commented.
Russia and China used their veto to block the resolution, which backed an Arab League peace plan for Syria. The resolution would have called upon President Bashar al-Assad to empower a deputy to negotiate with his opponents.