ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The inclusion of Gulf states and Turkey at the G7 meant a trumping of British proposals of sanctions against Russia at the conclusion of the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy headlined by allegations of the usage of chemical weapons by the Russian-backed Syrian regime, ahead of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s trip to Moscow.
A spokesperson for the G7 meetings said it was decided it would be wrong to put Russia in a corner through sanctions; it is more efficient to have negotiatory relations with Russia.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had said the G7 was considering new sanctions on Russian military figures to press Moscow to end military support for the "toxic" Assad government.
The presence of chemical weapons in Syria falls back on Russia, which signed an agreement with then US President Barack Obama to ensure such weapons in Syria were eliminated after the deadly 2013 sarin gas attack near Damascus.
Tillerson said after the G7 meetings that Russia was responsible to locate, secure and destroy chemical weapons inside Syria in-line with the 2013 agreement, and that it has failed to deliver.
“That means Russia is either unclear in the seriousness of this responsibility or incompetent,” Tillerson said. “Both are inconsequential to the dead.”
The US has not claimed that its missile strikes on Friday morning destroyed any chemical weapons.
“We struck the air base to send a clear message about the use of chemical weapons by making it harder for the Syrian regime to use that base and those assets in that way again...” US Central Command spokesperson Col. John Thomas informed Rudaw English. “By striking fuel storage, weapons dumps navigation aides, and aircraft at a base we believe was involved in the horrific chemical strike.”
After the G7 meeting, Tillerson will head to Russia, where he said he will pressure Moscow to choose align with the G7 nations and regional partners, or the Assad-Iran alliance through its Hezbollah proxies.
“We will continue to evaluate how to de-escalate the situation in Syria and look to Geneva for a political solution,” Tillerson said. “Assad is not part of that solution.”
Tillerson said for the Geneva political talks to work, all parties must abide by a ceasefire brokered in Astana by Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
Turkey, Gulf and Arab state FMs were included by G7 nations in early-morning talks on Syria.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Lucca, Italy, that findings indicated that the Assad regime still had the capacity to use chemical weapons, the Turkish Daily Sabah reported, also reiterating the Turkish position that there was no place for the Assad regime and a transitional government should be established as soon as possible.
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