DHAKA: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday accused the United States of blackmailing Russia to support a tough United Nations resolution against Syria, and said the West is blinded by the idea of regime change in the war-torn country.

‘Our American partners are beginning to blackmail us: if Russia won’t support a resolution under Chapter 7 in the UN Security Council, then we will stop the work in the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,’ Lavrov said in a Channel One interview, according to Russian agencies, reports The Straits Times.

‘Our partners are now blinded by their ideological goal of regime change (in Syria)’ Lavrov added.

‘All they talk about is that Bashar al-Assad must leave,’ while Russia’s goal is to ‘solve the problem of chemical weapons in Syria’.

BDST: 1646 HRS, SEPT 22, 2013
RoR/RK