MOSCOW — Russia says it may send its observers to Syria as part of a U.N. monitoring mission meant to oversee the implementation of U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Monday that details of the mission are still being discussed. His comments come after Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government raised new, last-minute demands that the country’s largest rebel group swiftly rejected, casting doubt on the plan.
Russia, along with China, has twice shielded its old ally Damascus from U.N. sanctions over Syrian President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on a yearlong uprising that has killed more than 9,000.
But Moscow has also staunchly supported Annan’s cease-fire proposals, urging Assad to take the first step by withdrawing his forces from cities in line with the peace plan.
