Tillerson faces heat of Tomahawks
Russian foreign minister warns US secy of state over further attacks on Syria
Moscow, April 12: Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting with US secretary of state Rex Tillerson in Moscow on Wednesday that it was important not to allow a repeat of US Strikes in Syria. Mr Lavrov said the strikes carried out by the US on a Syrian airbase last week were unlawful.
He added that he expected to hold frank and honest discussions with Mr Tillerson on forming a broad anti-terrorism coalition. Mr Tillerson said he also wanted “a very open, candid and frank exchange” as the two men try to figure each other out during the first visit to Russia by a senior member of US President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Our meeting today comes at an important moment in our relationship so that we can further clarify areas of common objectives, areas of common interest — even where our tactical approaches may be different — and further clarify areas of sharp difference so that we can better understand why these differences exist,” Mr Tillerson said.
Mr Lavrov said Moscow was hoping to understand Washington’s “real intentions” during the visit and warned that Moscow considered it “fundamentally important” to prevent more “unlawful” US strikes in Syria.
“Your visit is very timely,” Mr Lavrov said, adding it offers an opportunity to clarify the chances of cooperation between the two sides “above all on the formation of a broad antiterrorist front”.
Despite hopes of an improvement in Russia-US ties under Mr Trump, the Tillerson-Lavrov talks look set to be dominated by the war of words over Syria — where more than 320,000 people have died in six years of war.
But with US officials suggesting Russian forces may have colluded in the latest atrocity blamed on President Bashar alAssad’s regime, it is not clear whether Mr Tillerson will be invited to meet President Vladimir Putin, with the Kremlin only saying there was a “probability” they could talk.
On the eve of the meeting, far from trying to calm tempers, both sides escalated their rhetoric.
Mr Putin accused Mr Assad’s opponents of planning to stage chemical attacks to be blamed on the Mr Assad regime in order to lure the US, which bombarded a Syrian air base last week, deeper into the conflict.
The Kremlin leader also
again slammed the US missile strike and angrily rejected accusations that Mr Assad’s forces were behind the suspected chemical attack last week on the town of Khan Sheikhun that left 87 civilians dead. “Where is the proof that Syrian troops used chemical weapons? There isn’t any. But there was a violation of international law. That is an obvious fact,” Mr Putin told Mir TV.