Lavrov slams West for "immoral stance" on Syria

(13 Dec 2011) 1. Mid shot Russian-Algerian talks 2. Close-up shot Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaking 3. Wide shot talks 4. Close-up Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci speaking 5. Cutaway cameramen 6. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister: "Regrettably, all the experience shows that sanctions, with the rarest exceptions, never work. And we are not ready to resort to them, except for the most critical cases. At the same time we stand for a resolute action, but the one that is aimed at searching for ways to achieve peace, not intensifying one-sided pressure." 7. Mid shot journalists 8. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister: "They refuse to put pressure on the armed extremist flank of the (Syrian) opposition and, at the same time, accuse us of blocking the United Nations Security Council's work... well, I would call this stance immoral." 9. Wide shot end of the news conference STORYLINE: Russia's foreign minister on Tuesday angrily accused the West of taking an "immoral" stance on Syria by pressuring President Bashar Assad while refusing to condemn violence by what he called "armed extremist groups" trying to oust the Arab strongman. Speaking at a news conference in Moscow after talks with Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci, Sergey Lavrov said Westerners "refuse to raise the pressure on the armed extremist flank of the (Syrian) opposition, and at the same time accuse us of blocking the United Nations Security Council's work." Lavrov also rebuffed calls for Moscow to back sanctions against Syria, where a nine-month-long government crackdown on a popular uprising is estimated to have killed more than five-thousand people. He did, however, back the Arab League's push to send observers to the country, which some fear is on the verge of civil war. "We stand for a resolute action, but the one that is aimed at searching for ways to achieve peace, not raising one-sided pressure," Lavrov said. Moscow, as well as Beijing, has resisted the push by the US and other Western nations for United Nations sanctions on Assad's regime as it tries to crush the uprising inspired by similar movements in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab states. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...