كرتي يفشل في اقناع روسيا بمعارضة قرار مرتقب لمجلس الأمن حول السودان

Quote: Russia says Sudan sanctions a possibility Moscow, Apr 30 (AFP) Russia signalled its agreement today with a US-backed UN Security Council resolution on Sudan's border conflict with the breakaway South that provides for sanctions if the fighting rages on. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with Sudanese counterpart Ali Karti that Khartoum was ready to commit to an April 12 Security Council statement demanding an immediate ceasefire if the South did the same. But Lavrov said world powers may have to go back and examine further steps that include economic sanctions proposed by the United States should the two sides fail to comply. The resolution "says that the Security Council will consider the sides' actions, and depending on how they implement this resolution, the Council intends to discuss possible further steps," Lavrov told reporters. "Yes, it may include measures of economic pressure. But I would repeat that this is not an automatic decision, but only an intention depending on how the resolution is implemented." Lavrov added that Russia intended to make sure the draft was fair and "addressed to both sides" while leaving the African Union in charge of mediating an end to the month of fighting in the oil-rich region. Analysts had expected Karti to try and convince Russia -- a veto-wielding Security Council member that generally opposes using sanctions to punish sides in regional conflicts -- to oppose the US draft. Sudan had over the weekend rejected an African Union decision to ask the UN Security Council to endorse its call for the two Sudans to quickly halt hostilities and complete a peace pact within three months. Russia had supplied Sudan with arms until the United Nations imposed an embargo in 2005 over the Darfur crisis and still retains oil interests in the rump state. But the breakaway South controls about 75 percent of the formerly united Sudan's oil production and on Saturday struck an USD 8 billion loan agreement with Khartoum's key business partner China. (AFP)