Abandon Assad, G-7 ministers to tell Russia
LUCCA, Italy: The US will hold responsible anyone who commits crimes against humanity, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday, days after the US military unexpectedly attacked Syria.
Tillerson is in Italy for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G-7) major industrialized nations, with his counterparts from Europe and Japan eager for clarity from Washington on numerous diplomatic issues, especially Syria.
The G-7 ministers looked to put pressure on Russia to break its ties with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Calling the strike a “game changer,” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said support for the Syrian president “was toxifying the reputation of Russia” and suggested sanctions could be imposed on Moscow if it refused to change course.
“What we’re trying to do is to give Rex Tillerson the clearest possible mandate from us as the West, the UK, all our allies here, to say to the Russians ‘this is your choice: stick with that guy, stick with that tyrant, or work with us to find a better solution’,” Johnson said after meeting Tillerson.
Before the April 7 missile strikes on a Syrian airbase, US President Donald Trump had indicated he would be less interventionist than his predecessors and willing to overlook human rights abuses if it was in US interests.
Tillerson said at the weekend the main priority for the US was the defeat of one of Assad’s main foes — Daesh — and it is unclear how far he will want to push the Russians on Tuesday.
But Tillerson said the US would not let such crimes go unchallenged. “We rededicate ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world,” he told reporters while commemorating a 1944 German Nazi massacre in Sant’Anna di Stazzema.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Ministry Mevlut Cavusoglu held a telephone conversation with Tillerson to discuss the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official said the two men also talked about the fight against Daesh. The official, who cannot be named under government regulations, did not provide further details. Turkey backed Trump’s decision but said pressure on the Assad administration should continue. Ankara also insists there should be no role for Assad in Syria’s future.
Following the missile strike and the Trump’s changing attitude toward the Syrian war, the UK offered its own frank assessment by urging Russia to end its support for “toxic” Assad.
While the US is rallying other countries to put pressure on Syria, G-7 foreign ministers want clarity from the Trump administration.