Obama, Putin agree to ‘ push’ Syria
Both leaders urge peace talks
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — Russian President Vladimir Putin and U. S. President Barack Obama say their “opinions do not coincide” on the bloody Syrian civil war but they’ve agreed to “push” the Assad regime and opposition forces back to the negotiating table for peace talks.
Putin and Obama emerged late Monday from a two- hour bilateral meeting at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland to announce they’re both committed to reducing escalating violence and use of chemical weapons.
“Of course, our opinions do not coincide, but all of us have the intention to stop the violence in Syria and to stop the growth of victims and to solve the situation peacefully, including by bringing the parties to the negotiating table in Geneva,” Putin said through a translator following his meeting with Obama.
“We agreed to push the parties to the negotiating table.”
The Russian leader has come under fire for supporting and arming Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper saying on Sunday that Putin supported “thugs” in the Syrian regime.
The United States has already announced plans to ship small arms to the rebels, with Britain and France also considering providing military aid to the opposition — something Assad vows would be a big mistake.
Putin has also warned Western countries against their plans to arm opposition forces, but the Russian and American leaders found some common ground on the need for getting the Assad regime and opposition forces back to the table for Geneva peace talks that could restart possibly next month.
“We do have different perspectives on the problem, but we share an interest in reducing the violence, securing chemical weapons and ensuring they are neither used nor are they subject to proliferation,” Obama said.
“... We want to try to resolve the issue through political means, if possible,” he said.
“And so we have instructed our teams to continue to work on the potential of a Geneva followup to the first meeting.”
The two leaders also released a joint statement saying they have agreed to hold a U. S.Russia summit in Moscow on Sept. 3- 4 to “discuss in greater detail the full range of bilateral and international issues.”
Both sides have reached an understanding on a “positive agenda for relations between our countries” that includes arms control, non- proliferation, international security, trade, responding to global threats, countering terrorism and militant extremism, says the statement. The agreement by the two leaders to push for peace talks was a dramatic development in a day when Canadian officials were girding for difficult discussions with Putin who has warned Europe will “pay the price” if it arms Syrian rebels.
Canada and its allies around the G8 table had been hoping to engage Russia in a conversation that can get Assad’s regime back to the table for peace talks with opposition forces, as the death toll in the two- year- old conflict surpasses 93,000.
Harper maintains Canada is not, “at the present time,” planning to arm the Syrian opposition — but has not ruled it out — as the U. S., Britain and France all move toward supplying military aid to the rebels.
“If the Europeans deliver wea pons, then Europe’s backyard will become terrorist, and Europe will pay the price for it,” Assad was quoted as saying in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Putin had criticized Western leaders on Sunday for wanting to arm Syrian rebels who eat human organs, sparking further tension among G8 leaders on how to resolve the Syrian conflict.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government announ ced $ 115 million in new humanitarian and development assistance for Syria and neighbouring countries being flooded by refugees. Canada will provide $ 90 million to humanitarian organizations in Syria and countries hosting refugees to help with food, clean water, shelter and health care.
Another $ 25 million will go to Jordan and Lebanon to support government services and infrastructure strained from the influx of refugees.
“The brutal Assad regime continues to wreak havoc on innocent Syrian civilians. Canada will continue to work with our allies to help the Syrian people,” Harper said Monday in a statement. The prime minister did not take questions Monday from Canadian reporters with him on the trip.
The battle around the G8 table over Syria has been raising more questions about Russia’s future role in the group and whether the G8 is facing an existential crisis. Russia hosts both the G20 summit later this year and G8 talks in 2014.