Is Russia Really Protecting Syria's Regime? (Russia‪)‬

Russia has told both the Syrian government and the opposition that real actions are needed to solve the internal crisis in Syria, the Russian upper house of parliament's foreign-affairs chief said, according to the Beirut-based anti-Syrian daily AL MUSTAQBAL. "After a meeting in Moscow with representatives of the Syrian opposition, Mikhail Margelov said the conflicting sides should urgently start a broad and comprehensive national dialogue," the newspaper, owned by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, reported on Oct. 11. "The Russian veto at the UN Security Council on the Syria draft resolution is in no way a carte blanche for the current ruling Syrian regime to do everything they want," he said. "We are indulging neither the regime nor the opposition, no way, it's actually the last bell," he added. "With our veto at the UN Security Council we have used up the whole toolkit that international law offers us. This is the last appeal to the authorities and the opposition to take their places around the table and to start a national dialogue," he said.