Obama’s move on Saturday to push back military action until
after a debate and vote by US lawmakers followed Putin’s call not to
take rash actions, which had some Russian politicians gloating on
Sunday. “Obama was one step away from war,” tweeted the head of the
Russian parliament’s international affairs committee Alexei Pushkov.
“He does not want to be the second George Bush with the whole world against him.”
Russia
has rejected claims that the regime of Bashar al-Assad has used
chemical arms, and Putin, in his first public reaction to claims that
Assad was behind attacks on August 21, said the United States must
provide proof and avoid repeating the past “mistakes” of Iraq and other
interventions.
He called on Obama to use the G20 summit as a venue
to flesh out their differences over Syria, even though the Kremlin
denied earlier that any bilateral meeting has been planned between the
two leaders. “I would tell
my colleague (Obama) that we shall have a
meeting soon in Saint Petersburg,” Putin said after repeating Russia’s
position that the alleged attack was a “provocation” to draw the US into
the conflict, and that for the Syrian regime to use chemical weapons
would be “utter nonsense.”
“Of course the G20 cannot be a
replacement for the UN Security Council, which is the sole body that can
make a decision about using force. But it’s a good place to discuss the
problem. Why not use the opportunity?,” Putin said.
Russia has
supported Assad, vowing to veto any action against him in the Security
Council, and Putin on Saturday admitted that he had not discussed Syria
with Obama since the first accusations against the regime regarding the
chemical attacks were made. But hosting the summit in one of the
Kremlin’s official residence palaces, Putin will have prime opportunity
to argue his case, bolstered by the war-weary British parliament’s shock
rejection of military action which left France as America’s main Syria
ally.
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/45824.html
Social Plugin