G7 ministers look to persuade Russia to abandon Syria's Assad

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G7 ministers look to persuade Russia to abandon Syria's Assad

By Crispian Balmer and Steve Scherer

REUTERS

 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Italy's Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano and E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini attend a ceremony at the Sant'Anna di Stazzema memorial, dedicated to the victims of the massacre committed in the village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema by the Nazis in 1944 during World War II, Italy April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Max Rossi

 

LUCCA, Italy (Reuters) - Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised nations met in Italy on Monday, looking to put pressure on Russia to break its ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

 

In a shift in Washington's strategy, U.S. missiles hit a Syrian air base last week in retaliation for what the United States and its allies say was a poison gas attack by Syria's military in which scores of civilians died. The Syrian government has denied it was behind the assault.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump had previously appeared disinclined to intervene against the Syrian leader and the attack raised expectations that he might now be ready to adopt a tougher-than-expected stance with Russia, Assad's main backer.

 

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.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to travel to Moscow on Tuesday at the end of the two-day gathering in the Tuscan city of Lucca with his Italian, German, French, British, Japanese and Canadian counterparts.

 

"What we're trying to do is to give Rex Tillerson the clearest possible mandate from us as the West, the U.K., 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.

 

Russia has rejected accusations that Assad used chemical arms against his own people and has said it will not cut its ties with Assad, who has been locked in a six-year-old civil war that has devastated Syria and displaced half its population.

 

"Returning to pseudo-attempts to resolve the crisis by repeating mantras that Assad must step down cannot help sort things out," Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Monday.

 

Johnson said he was keen to seen further sanctions imposed on both Syrian and Russian "military figures". Speaking to reporters in France, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was also ready to stiffen sanctions on Moscow.

 

"CRIMES AGAINST INNOCENTS"

 

Tillerson said at the weekend the main priority for the United States was the defeat of one of Assad's main foes, the Islamic State militant movement, and it is unclear how far he will want to push the Russians on Tuesday.

 

On Monday, the former oilman-turned-diplomat visited the site of a World War Two Nazi massacre in Italy and said the United States would never let such abuses go unchallenged.

 

"We rededicate ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world," he said in Sant'Anna di Stazzema before heading to Lucca.

 

As the talks began, a few dozen anti-G7 protesters clashed with baton-wielding riot police on the edges of the walled city.

Looking to build their case against Assad, Italy has invited the foreign ministers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar to sit down with the G7 group on Tuesday to discuss Syria. All oppose Assad's rule.

 

Before the meeting started, the foreign minister of Iran, which supports Assad, asked to speak to Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano to discuss Syria, Italian diplomats said. Details of their conversation were not disclosed.

 

The foreign ministers' discussions will prepare the way for a G7 leaders' summit in Sicily at the end of May, which looks set to be Trump's first overseas trip since becoming president.

 

The ministers will also talk about growing tensions with North Korea, with the United States moving a navy strike group near the Korean peninsula amid concerns over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

 

They will also debate Libya. Italy is hoping for vocal support for a United Nations-backed government in Tripoli which has struggled to establish its authority even in the city, let alone in the rest of the country.

 

The Trump administration has not yet defined a clear policy and Rome fears Washington may fall into step with Egypt and Russia, which both support general Khalifa Haftar, a powerful figure in eastern Libya.

 

The struggle against terrorism, relations with Iran and instability in Ukraine are also on the agenda, with the meeting expected to finish by midday on Tuesday.

 

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Steve Scherer; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-11

[dunroaming]

Johnson clearly on instructions from Trump (no doubt via May) to push for sanctions against Russia with the G7 members.  Quite rightly the G7 members are not buying it.  Somebody needs to tell Johnson and May that Britain played the lap dog role with Blair and Bush and Britain doesn't want to go there again. 

[craigt3365]

12 hours ago, dunroaming said:

Johnson clearly on instructions from Trump (no doubt via May) to push for sanctions against Russia with the G7 members.  Quite rightly the G7 members are not buying it.  Somebody needs to tell Johnson and May that Britain played the lap dog role with Blair and Bush and Britain doesn't want to go there again. 

The G7 members have 100% bought into this.  No need for Trump to push anybody.  Even the EU is pushing for sanctions against Russia.  Time for the world to stand up to the brutal Assad and his supporter Putin.

[ilostmypassword]

3 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

The G7 members have 100% bought into this.  No need for Trump to push anybody.  Even the EU is pushing for sanctions against Russia.  Time for the world to stand up to the brutal Assad and his supporter Putin.

Now you're telling a falsehood.

Boris Johnson fails to secure backing of the G7 nations for swift sanctions against Russia and Syria

Boris Johnson has failed to secure the backing of the G7 nations for swift sanctions against Russia and Syria, leaving the US-UK plan to pressurise Vladimir Putin in tatters.

Germany and Italy vetoed the idea of targeting Russian and Syrian military leaders until an investigation has been carried out into who was to blame for last week’s nerve gas attack in Idlib province.

The Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said Mr Putin “must not be pushed into a corner”, suggesting Italy may not support extra sanctions even if an investigation proves Assad was to blame.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/11/british-cabinet-split-syria-response-g7-leaders-discuss-fresh/

[craigt3365]

7 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Now you're telling a falsehood.

Boris Johnson fails to secure backing of the G7 nations for swift sanctions against Russia and Syria

Boris Johnson has failed to secure the backing of the G7 nations for swift sanctions against Russia and Syria, leaving the US-UK plan to pressurise Vladimir Putin in tatters.

Germany and Italy vetoed the idea of targeting Russian and Syrian military leaders until an investigation has been carried out into who was to blame for last week’s nerve gas attack in Idlib province.

The Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said Mr Putin “must not be pushed into a corner”, suggesting Italy may not support extra sanctions even if an investigation proves Assad was to blame.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/11/british-cabinet-split-syria-response-g7-leaders-discuss-fresh/

Makes sense.  All the results are not in yet.  Hard to press for sanctions without legal proof.  Which is what I said in an earlier post.  Still, Western nations are blaming Assad for this.  They are not backing down from that.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/11/europe/syria-russia-putin-g7-tillerson/index.html

Quote

But the G7 foreign ministers chose instead to wait for the outcome of an international investigation into the attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun last week, which prompted the US to launch a barrage of missiles on a Syrian airbase on Friday. Western nations blame the Assad regime for the attack.

 

One big problem is Trump and his team.  None are experienced.  And as the above article states, this would be a tough job even for a seasoned expert.  Tillerson is far from that.  As is Trump and those on his team.

 

[ilostmypassword]

49 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

The G7 members have 100% bought into this.  No need for Trump to push anybody.  Even the EU is pushing for sanctions against Russia.  Time for the world to stand up to the brutal Assad and his supporter Putin.

"Even the EU is pushing for sanctions against Russia."

Really?

G7 Summit: EU and Germany 'cool' on Britain and America's plan for Russia sanctions

The push to impose new sanctions on Russia following the deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria has hit trouble amid claims that the EU and Germany are “cool” on the idea.

Sources at the G7 in Italy told The Independent that Britain and America’s plan for new punitive measures on Moscow are being taken seriously, but face hurdles before receiving international approval.

To win backing, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson may have to narrow the measures’ scope and already accepts none will be imposed before the completion of an investigation into the chemical incident at the village of Khan Sheikhoun last week.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/g7-summit-russia-sanctions-syria-chemical-attack-uk-us-eu-germany-block-boris-johnson-khan-sheikhoun-a7677626.html

[thaibeachlovers]

LOL. The idea that Putin cares about what some ministers from the EU ( of all places ) think about Russia supporting Assad is laughable. They can't even sort their own problems.