Russia should stop backing Assad, says G7
Foreign ministers from the Group-of-Seven industrialised nations met on Monday to forge a response to the deadly chemical attack in Syria, and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said they would consider imposing sanctions against Russian backers of President Bashar Al Assad.
G7 diplomats gathering in Lucca, Italy, hope to use outrage over the attack and wide international support for the United States’ retaliatory missile strikes to push Russia to abandon Assad and join a new peace effort for Syria.
Speaking after meeting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Johnson said ministers “will be discussing the possibility of further sanctions, certainly, on some of the Syrian military figures and indeed on some of the Russian military figures”.
He said Russia had a choice: to continue backing the “toxic” Assad regime, “or to work with the rest of the world to find a solution for Syria, a political solution”.
london — Russia should end its support for “toxic” Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Monday ahead of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Italy.
“It’s time for (Russian President) Vladimir Putin to face the truth about the tyrant he is propping up,” Johnson said, according to a foreign ministry spokeswoman.
“We need to make it clear to Putin that the time to back Assad has gone,” he said, warning that Putin was “damaging Russia” by supporting Assad. “He must understand that Assad is now toxic in every sense. He is poisoning the innocent people of Syria with weapons that were banned 100 years ago — and he is poisoning the reputation of Russia,” he said.
Johnson on Saturday cancelled a scheduled visit to Moscow over its support for the Syrian regime.
The move came after a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Seikhun last week in which at least 87 people were killed.
He (Putin) must understand that Assad is now toxic in every sense. He is poisoning the innocent people of Syria with weapons that were banned 100 years ago — and he is poisoning the reputation of Russia Boris Johnson
The United States launched a missile strike on a Syrian airfield on Friday in its first military action against Assad in retaliation for the attack.
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven main industrialised countries are meeting in the Italian town of Lucca later on Monday before US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson flies to Moscow on Tuesday.
“There’s no doubt the US action is a game-changer in Syria. We need to make it clear to Putin that the time to back Assad has gone,” Johnson said on Monday.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser is calling on Russia to reevaluate its support for Assad, leaving open the possibility of additional US military action against Syria.
In his first televised interview, HR McMaster pointed to dual US goals of defeating Daesh and removing Assad from power. As Tillerson was making the Trump administration’s first official trip this week to Russia, McMaster said Russia will have to decide whether it wanted to continue backing a “murderous regime”. Trump is
What we are saying is, other countries have to ask themselves some hard questions. Russia should ask themselves ... Why are we supporting this regime that is committing mass murder of its own population? HR McMaster
weighing next steps after ordering airstrikes last week.
“It’s very difficult to understand how a political solution could result from the continuation of the Assad regime,” McMaster said on “Fox News Sunday”.
“Now, we are not saying that we are the ones who are going to effect that change. What we are saying is, other countries have to ask themselves some hard questions. Russia should ask themselves ... Why are we supporting this murderous regime that is committing mass murder of its own population?” —