Russia warns West over Syria after Obama threats

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Russia warned the West on Tuesday against unilateral action on Syria, a day after U.S. President Barack Obama threatened "enormous consequences" if his Syrian counterpart used chemical or biological arms or even moved them in a menacing way.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after meeting China's top diplomat, said Moscow and Beijing were committed to "the need to strictly adhere to the norms of international law...and not to allow their violation".

Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil, also speaking in Moscow, dismissed Obama's threat as media fodder.

"Direct military intervention in Syria is impossible because whoever thinks about it ... is heading towards a confrontation wider than Syria's borders," he told a news conference.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/08/21/uk-syria-crisis-idUKBRE86H18C20120821