EU accused of wrecking Syria summit over arms embargo William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, was the main proponent of diluting the embargo as the decision was reached in Brussels. British officials have warned that the Syrian regime was strengthening its positions on the ground in advance of the Geneva talks. Tweaking the embargo would grant the rebels extra heft in the negotiations. A French official in Paris stressed that "this is a theoretical lifting of the embargo. In concrete terms, there will be no decision on any deliveries before August 1. The Syrian people are disappointed. They thought that democracies care about those who seek democracy," Mr Safi said. We need to provide protection for civilians, for the Syrian people. Weapons would be one element but also we would like to have a more serious position taken, a firm decision taken by the European Union," he added. The proposed "Geneva 2" meeting is expected to happen some time next month after US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed in May to try and bring the warring sides together at conference. Mr Ryabkov said that Russia was "disappointed" by the European Union's decision. "We are disappointed that decisions are being reached that not only fail to promote a political solution... but which contradict the policies conducted by the European Union itself," he said. He further accused the 27-nation bloc of setting "double standards" by lifting the embargo against the opposition but not Syrian President Assad's troops.