Russia Says Clinton Criticism over Syria 'Inappropriate'

Russia on Friday described as "inappropriate" U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks at a Friends of Syria meeting that Moscow is holding up progress in resolving the conflict.

"The statement is inappropriate," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Interfax news agency.

"We have heard this numerous times before, but we are concerned that these types of remarks go against the final declaration of the Geneva meeting, which was adopted with the participation of the U.S. secretary of state," he said.

At the Syria meeting in Paris, Clinton accused Russia and China of "holding up progress" in a settlement to the 16-month conflict, saying their stances were "no longer tolerable" and accusing them of supporting Bashar Assad.

Gatilov said such remarks went against the declaration agreed at a meeting in Geneva on Saturday, which made no explicit call for Assad to cede power as a prerequisite in resolving the conflict in a compromise deal.

"There are no conditions for beginning the all-Syrian dialogue in the final declaration. As for the Syrian president, we have repeatedly stated that we are not advocates of the Syrian leader," he said.