MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) - Vice Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Kalashnikov believes that the situation in Syria will depend largely on who will succeed Kofi Annan as UN/Arab League special representative for Syria.
"Quite evidently, Kofi Annan, seeing that his peace plan for Syria was a complete failure, realized that he could no longer keep that post and will resign on August 31," Kalashnikov has told Interfax.
Who will replace him is a crucial matter, he said.
Formally, all appointments with regard to that post are made by UN Secretary of State Ban Ki-moon.
"But it is no secret to anyone that the appointment will be preceded by a series of closed-door talks and discussions in which the United States and the European Union will play a prevalent role," he said.
Kalashnikov did not rule out that the League of Arab States (LAS) would recommend its own candidate.
"But I the proposed candidacy is totally unacceptable for Russia and China, I believer the UN secretary general will take this into account prior to ultimate decision-making," the deputy said.
He feels that a number of Western countries are now beginning to revise their once unconditional support of the Syrian opposition.
"Earlier, Euronews and TV channels in many other countries showed footage of the execution by shooting of captured Syrian army servicemen without any trial," he said, adding that it was the sign of a turning point in public perception of what the Syrian opposition was really like.
"There is something more behind that than the mere affirmation of the dreadful fact of the execution of armless captives," the deputy said.