U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Moscow Tuesday with an ultimatum for Russia: Side with the U.S. and likeminded countries on Syria, or embrace Iran, militant group Hezbollah and embattled Syrian leader Bashar Assad.
A key focus since the chemical attack has been on increasing pressure on Russia, Assad's strongest ally, which has used its own military to prop up Assad in Syria.
Last week, the United States fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Ash Sha'irat airbase in Homs province in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack against Syrian civilians in Idlib province on April 4.
It is one thing to disagree with him on a domestic policy issue like banning Muslim tourists or healthcare or building a wall, it is quite another when he issues threats to foreign countries such as Iran and North Korea, and even worse when he orders a missile attack on Syria!
Ahead of the full meeting, Tillerson held bilateral talks with G-7 counterparts who included Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Italian media said the aim was "to avert a unsafe military escalation". "We believe many are credible", the official said.
"The recent USA missile attack on the Sha'irat Syrian government forces airbase, representing an act of aggression against a sovereign state in violation of worldwide law, leads to the reinforcement of terrorists", the ministry said. They affirm that Syria does not possess any chemical weapons after its 2003 agreement to dispose of all such hazardous materials.
It wasn't clear what the punishment would be for a Russian government that has used its military might to help Assad and his array of allies score a series of battlefield successes in their six-year war with Syrian opposition groups.
"The sight of people being gassed and blown away by barrel bombs ensures that if we see this kind of action again, we hold open the possibility of future action", White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Monday.
African migrants seeking Europe sold as 'slaves' for $200
While some migrants sold this way managed to escape, many wallowed in captivity for months before being bought free or sold on. The journey - over two days of travelling - through the desert was relatively smooth for this group.
Tillerson flew straight from the G7 meeting in Italy to Moscow, where he will become the first member of Trump's cabinet to meet the Russian administration. The official said it still isn't clear who was flying the jet that bombed the hospital, because the Syrians also fly Russian-made aircraft.
"Nothing has changed in our posture", he said by email.
Trump discussed Syria during separate telephone calls Monday with British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Tillerson also spoke by phone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, whose government insists that Assad should play no role in Syria's future.
"We rededicate ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world", Tillerson said. Syria's powerful security agencies, notorious for human rights abuses, also will back Assad until the end.
The US missile attack claimed the lives of 10 people, an officer of the Syrian Armed Forces told Sputnik.
"It is the right moment to talk about this, how the worldwide community, with Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Europe, with the US, can drive forward a peace process for Syria and avoid further military escalation of the conflict".
Russian officials often cite the USA failures in Iraq and Libya, where state institutions disintegrated following Western military intervention, to illustrate the perils of forced regime change in Syria. In an unusual announcement for a foreign government, Johnson also said the US could launch more cruise missiles into Syria like the ones President Donald Trump ordered last week in reaction to Assad's use of chemical weapons.
Japan hopes the strong United States response on Syria will also put pressure on Pyongyang, which is showing signs of preparing for its sixth nuclear test and more test-firings of ballistic missiles.
Comments