Russia ‘shielding’ Syria, U.S. charges
Intelligence report on attack marks shift for Trump on his approach to Putin
MOSCOW— The White House accused the Russian government on Tuesday of engaging in a coverup of the chemical weapons attack last week by Syrian forces that prompted U.S. missile strikes, saying that U.S. intelligence and numerous contemporaneous reports confirmed that the Syrians used sarin gas on their own people.
In a declassified four-page report that details U.S intelligence on the chemical weapons attack and contains a point-by-point rebuttal of Moscow’s claims, the White House asserted that the Syrian and Russian governments had sought to confuse the world community about the assault through disinformation and “false narratives.”
The strongly worded document calls for international condemnation of Syria’s use of chemical weapons and harshly criticizes Russia for “shielding” an ally that has used weapons of mass destruction.
It marks a striking shift by U.S. President Donald Trump, who entered office praising President Vladimir Putin of Russia and seeking common ground with him — and now appears to be moving swiftly to isolate him. The charges came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was preparing for meetings in Moscow on Wednesday.
“Russia is in an island on this,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer. He said there was little dispute about Syria’s responsibility for the attack, except by Moscow, North Korea and Iran. “This is not exactly a happy-time cocktail party of people you want to be associated with.”
Before Tillerson exited his plane in Moscow, Putin told a news confer- ence the Kremlin has “information” that provocateurs are planning to plant chemical substances in Damascus and blame it on Syrian authorities. He gave no further details, but he noted that the situation in Syria reminded him of events in Iraq before the U.S. invaded in 2003, an allusion to unfounded assertions of weapons of mass destruction that the George W. Bush administration used to justify the war.
Russian general staff has put the United States on notice, saying that another missile strike would be “unacceptable.” Putin’s spokespeople said it remained unclear whether the Russian leader would meet directly with Tillerson on Wednesday.
Before leaving Italy — where he met with G7 allies and diplomats from largely Muslim nations — Tillerson told reporters that the U.S. is aiming for a negotiated end to six years of conflict in Syria and wants Russia to help usher Assad out of office.
Claiming that Assad’s rule “is coming to an end,” Tillerson previewed his message to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“We hope that the Russian government concludes that they have aligned themselves with an unreliable partner in Bashar Assad,” he said.
White House officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the government’s view, said that the Syrian government, under pressured from opposition forces in the strategic Hama province and lacking sufficient troops to respond, used the lethal nerve agent sarin to retaliate against rebels who were threatening government-held territory. With files from the Washington Post