Putin urges G8 to "obey rules and norms" over Syria
6/16/2013 8:57:20 PM
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday insisted that Moscow had abided by "rules and norms" when providing weapons to Syria and called on other G8 countries which are contemplating arming rebels to do likewise.
"We are not breaching any rules and norms and we call on all our partners to act in the same fashion," he said in a press conference in London following talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Putin warned that countries supplying arms to forces fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would have their reputation tarnished after footage emerged last month of one rebel apparently eating the heart of a dead soldier.
Human Rights Watch and the Syrian opposition National Coalition condemned the video as "horrific".
"It is barely worth it [supplying arms] to support people who not only kill their enemies but open up their bodies and eat their internal organs in front of the public and the cameras," he said.
"Do you want to supply these people with arms?
"In that case this hardly has anything to do with the humanitarian values which have for centuries been preached in Europe," he added. "At least in Russia we cannot imagine this."
"We are not breaching any rules and norms and we call on all our partners to act in the same fashion," he said in a press conference in London following talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Putin warned that countries supplying arms to forces fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would have their reputation tarnished after footage emerged last month of one rebel apparently eating the heart of a dead soldier.
Human Rights Watch and the Syrian opposition National Coalition condemned the video as "horrific".
"It is barely worth it [supplying arms] to support people who not only kill their enemies but open up their bodies and eat their internal organs in front of the public and the cameras," he said.
"Do you want to supply these people with arms?
"In that case this hardly has anything to do with the humanitarian values which have for centuries been preached in Europe," he added. "At least in Russia we cannot imagine this."