Russia castigated Syria’s new leaders in a closed United Nations briefing this week, two sources briefed on the meeting told news agency Reuters, warning against the rise of extremism in Syria and comparing sectarian killings of Alawites to Rwanda’s genocide.
Moscow’s private criticism of Syria’s Islamist rulers comes despite Russian efforts to retain two key military bases in coastal Syria – the same region where hundreds of people from the Alawite minority were killed last week.
The violence was triggered on March 6 by an attack on new government security forces blamed on ex-army figures loyal to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, who is Alawite.
That attack unleashed widespread killings of Alawites across several provinces by groups accused of links to the new government.
The Kremlin, which backed Assad before he was toppled and fled to Russia in December, called on Tuesday for Syria to remain united and said it was in contact with other countries on the issue.
But its comments in the closed Security Council briefing on Monday, which it called for jointly with the United States, were much more scathing, shedding light on Moscow’s strategy as it tries to reassert influence over Syria’s course.
They have not been previously reported.
Two sources briefed on the meeting told Reuters Moscow’s envoy Vassily Nebenzia compared the sectarian and ethnic killing to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically massacred by Hutu extremists, led by the Rwandan army and a militia known as the Interahamwe.
The sources cited Nebenzia as telling those gathered “no one” had stopped the killing in Syria.
When asked whether he likened the violence in Syria to Rwanda’s genocide, Nebenzia told Reuters: “I say what I want in the closed consultations, based on the premise that it is closed consultations and nothing comes out.”
