|
Lavroz sez nyet on Assad's departure
By Staff writer, Al Arabiya News Wednesday, 18 November 2015Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged on Wednesday global powers to unite without any preconditions on the fate of Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad after Russia and France killed 33 militants in 72 hours. “It seems to me there are no longer any doubts that it is simply unacceptable to put forward any pre-conditions for joining forces in the fight against terror,” Lavrov told reporters. Lavrov, who said there was still no agreement about Assad’s political fate after international talks in Vienna, said he had detected a change in the West’s position since the Paris attacks and the bombing of a Russian passenger plane. Unlike the United States and other Western allies, Russia continues to say that Syrians need to decide in an election on whether Assad to stay or go. U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised Russia’s role in talks to end the Syria crisis and offered the prospect of better ties if Moscow focused military strikes on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group. But, he said, there were still differences over the fate of Syrian ruler, and Moscow’s current military focus on defending him. “I hope the change in the position of our Western colleagues -- which has unfortunately only come about as the result of terrible acts of terror -- will spread to other Western partners. That the stance that the real battle with ISIS can only be resolved once the fate of Assad is clear, that this position will put to one side,” said Lavrov. “In my opinion there can now be no doubts that it is simply unacceptable to put forward any preconditions in order to unite in the battle against so-called Islamic State terrorists.” Meanwhile, Syria’s foreign minister Walid al-Moualem will visit Russia next week for talks with Lavrov about his country's crisis and the struggle against terrorism. Posted by: badanov 2015-11-19 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=436064 |