Freeland pushes Russia to cut loose from Assad

A WESTERN ULTIMATUM TO PUTIN: DROP ASSAD, OR REMAIN A PARIAH

Western countries are presenting a high-stakes ultimatum to Russia: Allow regime-change in Syria and cut loose Bashar Assad, or remain a pariah moored on the fringes of the international community.

Different U.S. allies articulated different versions of that warning Tuesday, including Canada. During a G7 meeting in Italy, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland urged Russia to seize the moment as a chance to break with Assad.

The twin events of a horrific chemical attack on Syrian civilians, combined with U.S. airstrikes, have created new momentum in pursuing a long-term political solution to the Syrian civil war, Freeland told a conference call.

“Russia needs to decide whether it wants to double down on its support of a murderous regime that is committing war crimes, or whether right now it wants to say, ‘You know what? We do not want to be associated with this, this is not where we want our country to be,’” she said.

“I really do hope Russia will take this opportunity to be on the right side of history.”

The violence in Syria has brought to a boiling point years of escalating tension with Moscow — the tension surged with the invasion of Ukraine in 2014, followed by painful economic sanctions, and then divergent views on Assad.

The U.S. is now hinting that a shift in Syria posture could de-escalate things.

The point was delivered with a twist of mockery from the White House. A spokesman for President Donald Trump insinuated that Russia’s behaviour of recent years had left it confined to an international alliance of losers.

“Russia is isolated. They have aligned themselves with North Korea, Syria, Iran. That’s not exactly a group of countries you’re looking to hang out with. With the exception of Russia, they are all failed states,” Sean Spicer said.

“Russia is on an island ... This is not a team you want to be on.”

It certainly didn’t sound like Russia was tempted by the notion of a strategic reset Tuesday. In public comments, President Vladimir Putin exhibited no inclination toward a pro-western, antiAssad pivot.

In fact, Putin appeared to accuse the West of making up some chemical attacks in Syria. He even likened it to the false evidence presented by the U.S. that led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Putin called them false flags. “We have reports from multiple sources that false flags (are happening)... They plan to plant some chemical there and accuse the Syrian government of an attack,” he said, according to Russia Today.

He made those remarks during a visit from Italy’s president, and before another high-profile visit. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson landed in Moscow on Tuesday after the G7 meetings.