US, Russia set for showdown at UN
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON/LONDON: The UN Security Council was scheduled to vote on Tuesday on rival US and Russian draft resolutions in response to an alleged chemical attack in Syria, setting up a clash as the threat of US military action loomed large.
The council is scheduled for a first vote on a US proposal to set up an inquiry to investigate chemical weapons attacks in Syria, but the measure is likely to face a veto from Russia.
Russia has also asked for a vote on a separate draft text presented in January that calls for an inquiry, but Western powers have already dismissed that measure as biased in favour of Damascus. In a surprise move, Russia put forward a second draft resolution backing the deployment of investigators from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to Syria.
Russia and Syria have called for the OPCW to send its experts to the rebel-held town of Douma, where toxic gas was allegedly used in an attack on Saturday.
The White House on Tuesday announced US President Donald Trump had cancelled his first trip to Latin America to “oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world”.
US defence secretary Jim Mattis has also cancelled his weekend travel plans, an official said.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, who held separate talks with Trump and French PresidentEmmanuelMacrononTuesday, said she agreed that the world needed to respond to the alleged chemical weapons attack.
A Downing Street statement said she agreed the attack, if confirmed, represented further evidence of the appalling cruelty shown by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.