(TALKZIMBABWE) Russia refutes Brown's claims on Zim sanctions

Russia refutes Brown's claims on Zim sanctions
Ralph Mutema
Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:03:00 +0000

IN what could come as further embarrassment to the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown after China and Russia vetoed sanctions against Zimbabwe, Russia has denied that it made a commitment at last week's Group of Eight (G8) summit to back the U.N. sanctions against Zimbabwe.

A senior Russian diplomat indicated on Monday that Russia cannot be accused for exercising its right to vote. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov urged the Zanu PF leadership to ensure that the perpetrators of violence are prosecuted.

A U.S. official at the United Nations said Monday that Russia's performance on Zimbabwe "raises doubts about its reliability as a G8 partner".

Lavrov attacked the official saying: “Accusations against Russia that it is not a reliable partner are, we believe, not only unfounded but also irresponsible.”

The new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev speaking last week had indicated that no concrete course of action had been adopted at a final news conference concluding the G8 summit and no decisions had been reached about how to act on Zimbabwe.

“The G8 expressed its concern,” Medvedev said at the July 9 briefing. “But there were no concrete decisions about how the United Nations should proceed.”

This statement was in contrast to what Gordon Brown said after the G8 meeting where he indicated that there had been a unanimous agreement on Zimbabwe.