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The U.S. and Russia exchanged warnings about a possible chemical attack in Syria and a Western military intervention in response, on the eve of what may be one of the decisive campaigns in the Middle Eastern country’s civil war. Tensions between the nuclear powers flared after National Security Adviser John Bolton told his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, that the U.S. has information Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may be preparing to use chemical weapons to recapture the northwestern province of Idlib from rebels.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
The U.S. is ready to respond forcefully, Bolton said during a five-hour meeting in Geneva on Thursday, according to four people familiar with the discussions. Assad’s army, with Russian air support, has been mustering troops and tanks around Idlib, the last stronghold of Syrian opposition groups now dominated by jihadists. Russia’s Defense Ministry hit back on Saturday, accusing the U.S. of collaborating with al-Qaeda-linked rebels who are preparing to stage an incident that would serve as a pretext for another round of Western attacks on Assad.
‘New Provocations’
In April 2017, and again a year later, the U.S. carried out limited airstrikes on Syrian targets as punishment for what it said was the use of chemical weapons. Bolton said any U.S. action will be stronger this time, the people familiar with the talks said. “We caution Washington against another military escapade,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a phone interview Saturday. “When things don’t turn out the way the U.S. and its allies want, then new provocations are prepared.”
Destroyer USS Porter fires a Tomahawk land attack missile on April 7, 2017 in the Mediterranean Sea.
While the Geneva talks have highlighted a dangerous new flashpoint in the Syrian war, they also addressed new possibilities for cooperation between the U.S. and Russia, according to the people familiar with the discussions. Central to the talks was the role of Iranian forces in Syria, and the presence of about 2,000 U.S. troops in the country’s northeast, where they’re allied with Kurdish fighters seeking autonomy from Damascus.
‘Desire to Stay’
we need to stay out of those quagmires
