Russia's foreign minister warned other nations again Wednesday not to arm the Syrian opposition, saying it would only escalate hostilities.

 

Speaking on a trip to Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Syrian opposition wouldn't be able to overwhelm government forces even if it was supplied with weapons from abroad. He warned that a foreign military intervention would lead to even more disastrous consequences for Syria, The Associated Press reported.

 

“Even if they arm the Syrian opposition to the teeth, it won't be able to defeat the Syrian army,” Lavrov said. “The carnage will go on for many years.”

 

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have backed the idea of arming the opposition against Assad's government. 

 

Meanwhile, some Western states moved to create a fund for the rebels at a meeting in Istanbul.

 

Russia, along with China, has twice shielded Assad from United Nations sanctions. But Moscow also has strongly supported UN envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan, which gives an April 10 deadline for Syrian troops to pull out of towns and cities.

 

He criticized Sunday's meeting of the “Friends of the Syrian People” in Istanbul, saying it sent signals to the opposition that would undermine Annan's plan.

 

“All that would undermine efforts to end violence,” he said. “They want to solve the Syrian problem with the opposition only, but it's impossible to settle the situation like that. There must be a dialogue of all the parties involved.”

 

Lavrov added that Moscow will host two separate delegations of Syrian rebels for talks in the next few days.

 

Moscow has criticized the West and Arab Persian Gulf states for backing the opposition. It has strongly opposed UN sanctions against Assad, saying that the global body shouldn't be turned into an instrument for regime change.

 

Russia has vowed to block any UN resolution that could pave the way for a replay of what happened in Libya, where NATO action helped oust longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

 

Lavrov said NATO nations had abused a UN resolution that cleared the way for a military action in Libya, killing civilians and “leaving something that can't be called a state in the end.”

 

On Tuesday, Syrian ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari said that the countries, which are arming the terrorists in Syria, funding and supplying them with communication equipment, are seeking to fail the mission of Kofi Annan. 

 

"Those countries are violating the Syrian sovereignty and declaring the war on it… those countries are involved in complicating the crisis… they have to assume responsibilities and commit to Annan's mission," Jaafari said at a press conference held in the New York on Tuesday, SANA reported. 

 

Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, on Sunday pledged 100 million dollars to provide salaries and communications equipment for Syrian rebels fighting against the Syrian government.

 

They made the offer at an Istanbul conference of the “Friends of Syria”, a grouping of some 70 Western and Arab countries, which Damascus calls the "enemies of Syria”. 

 

Syria has blamed outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist gangs for the unrest in the country, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad. The West and the Syrian opposition, however, accuse the Syrian government of killing protesters.