The United States, France and Britain on Monday stepped up pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to stick to a deal under which Syria must give up its chemical weapons, and warned he would suffer consequences if Damascus did not comply.
Russia immediately cautioned against imposing tough penalties on the Syrian leader, while in Syria itself fighting was reported on several fronts, with a monitoring group saying a government helicopter had been brought down.
The three Western permanent members of the United Nations Security Council said they would seek a strong resolution in the forum setting binding deadlines for the removal of Syria’s chemical weapons, French President Francois Hollande’s office said.
The statement followed talks in Paris, two days after the United States reached a deal with Assad’s ally Russia on chemical weapons that could avert US strikes on Syria as punishment for a chemical attack in Damascus last month.
US Secretary of State John Kerry told a news conference in Paris that the three powers agreed with Russia that Assad must suffer consequences if he fails to comply with U.N. demands.
“If Assad fails in time to abide by the terms of this framework, make no mistake, we are all agreed – and that includes Russia – that there will be consequences,” Kerry said.
The accord offered the Syrian leader “no lifeline” and he had “lost all legitimacy”, Kerry added.
After Hollande met Kerry and British Foreign Secretary William Hague and their French counterpart Laurent Fabius, an aide to Hollande said: “The idea is to stick to a firm line”.
“They’ve agreed to seek a strong and robust resolution that sets precise and binding deadlines with a calendar,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Russia accused the Europeans of trying to reinterpret the agreement.
Speaking in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any rush to draw up a resolution threatening to punish Syria in the event of non-compliance showed a “lack of understanding” of the agreement reached for Assad to give up his chemical weapons.
“Our (European) partners want to again unilaterally review what we’ve agreed on with the Americans. That’s not how you do business, and I’m sure that despite these statements that are coming from European capitals, the Americans will, as proper negotiators, strictly stick to what has been agreed on,” Lavrov said.
PEACE TALKS PLAN
He also said it may be time to consider efforts to force the opposition to attend an international peace conference instead of just urging them to do so. So far, the rebels have said they will not attend talks if the Syrian president is there too.
The deal reached in Geneva put off the immediate threat of air strikes, and Lavrov stressed at the time that it did not include any automatic use of force in the event of Syria’s failure to comply. But President Barack Obama has said force remains an option if Assad reneges.
Syria’s government at the weekend hailed as a “victory” the Russian-brokered deal, which rebels who have been fighting Assad’s forces since 2011 say has benefited their enemy in the civil war.
Widespread use of chemical arms in Syria: UN report
Chemical weapons have been used on a wide scale in the Syria war and there is clear evidence sarin killed hundreds in one key attack, UN inspectors said Monday. “The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic … against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale,” says the report to be released by UN leader Ban Ki-moon. The report said there was “clear and convincing” evidence of the use of sarin gas in an attack near Damascus last month. The United States says 1,400 people died in the attack. It added that “surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used” in the August 21 attack. The detail was in the first page of the report which was inadvertently leaked when it was included in an official picture of UN investigation leader Ake Sellstrom handing over the report to UN leader Ban Ki moon. Ban was to give the full report to the UN Security Council on Monday.