France: Lifting of Syria Arms Embargo Was Not 'Belligerent'

France insisted Tuesday that the European Union's decision to lift its arms embargo on Syria's rebels was not meant as an aggressive move, after Russia said it would harm peace efforts.

"The decision to lift the embargo was not a belligerent decision, it is in support of a political solution," French foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said.

"Lifting the embargo is not necessarily a decision to deliver arms" to the Syrian opposition, he added, noting that EU members had agreed the decision would not go into effect until August 1 at the earliest.

The EU agreed late Monday to lift its embargo on arming the opposition after much debate and a strong push by France and Britain.

Russia, Syrian leader Bashar Assad's key international supporter, hit back on Tuesday, saying the decision would "directly harm" efforts to organize a peace conference in Geneva next month.

Lalliot said the delay until August 1 was a political decision that was not legally binding.

A decision on supplying arms to the rebels will depend on "the evolution of the situation on the ground, the evolution within the opposition and the diplomatic evolution," he said.

"The decision to deliver arms will be made at the national level and based on requests made by the opposition," he said.

The United States praised EU's decision later on Tuesday, saying it is a show of "full support" for rebels fighting President Assad.

"While it is ultimately an EU decision, we do support the easing of the EU arms embargo as a part of the international community's efforts to demonstrate its full support for the Syrian opposition," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

He said the action would give each EU member state flexibility to support the Syrian opposition as it sees fit.

While the United States has so far provided only non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition, Ventrell said "this allows others to continue to accelerate that assistance to the opposition."