Ahead of a meeting between U.S Secretary
of State Rex Tillerson and the Russian
government this week in Moscow, top
Trump officials have ‘ordered’ Russia to
drop its public and military support of
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad or face a
deterioration in it’s relationship with the
U.S.
Russia on Friday reacted to the U.S military
strikes on a Syrian airfield after the Syrian
government allegedly used chemical attacks
on it’s civilians killing 89 people- Russia
demanded America explain why they
attacked a sovereign nation that was
actively fighting ISIS terrorists and pledged
to beef up Syrian air defenses.
Top Trump officials are now demanding
Russia step away from Assad or risk more
trouble with the U.S, with investigations
underway to ascertain if Russia were
involved in the chemical attacks on
civilians.
“I hope Russia is thinking carefully
about its continued alliance with
Bashar al-Assad, because every time
one of these horrific attacks occurs,
it draws Russia closer into some
level of responsibility,” Rex Tillerson,
U.S Secretary of State, said on ABC’s
“This Week.”
Although U.S officials acknowledged that
they have seen no evidence directly linking
Russia to the attacks, national security
adviser H.R. McMaster said Russia should
answer what it knew ahead of the chemical
attack since it has arranged warplanes and
air defense systems with associated troops
in Syria since 2015.
“I think what we should do is ask
Russia, how could it be, if you have
advisers at that airfield, that you
didn’t know that the Syrian air force
was preparing and executing a mass
murder attack with chemical
weapons?” McMaster said on Fox
News.
“I think the issue of how Bashar al-
Assad’s leadership is sustained, or
how he departs, is something that
we’ll be working [on] with allies and
others in the coalition,” said Tillerson,
who after weeks of keeping a low
profile was making his debut on the
Sunday morning talk shows. “But I
think with each of those actions, he
really undermines his own
legitimacy.”
“At least in the short run, it will
further complicate efforts to improve
the U.S.-Russia bilateral relationship,
which seemed to be Tillerson’s
objective in going to Moscow,” said
Jeffrey Mankoff, a Russia analyst at
the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
“In the longer term, the threat of
further U.S. intervention is a card
that the U.S. can play to get the
Russians to tighten the screws on
Assad — on both the chemical
weapons and possibly on accepting a
political deal with the opposition.”
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