Frosty US-Russia ties put Syria truce at risk
Print Edition
INTERNATIONAL efforts to end the fighting in Syria have been dealt a serious blow, with the US suspending direct contacts with Russia on halting the war, and chilly relations are turning even frostier after Moscow put a hold on a plutonium disposal deal with Washington.
The two decisions, announced in their respective capitals just hours apart on Monday, were ostensibly unrelated but underscored deep mistrust and rising tensions between the former Cold War foes, who are increasingly at odds on a number of issues, particularly Syria and Ukraine.
The moves further reduce areas of US-Russia cooperation, yet their most immediate impact may be the potential death blow delivered to halting attempts to revive a moribund cease-fire in Syria, and get desperately needed humanitarian aid to besieged communities.
The Obama administration said it decided to cut off discussions on Syria because Russia had not lived up to the terms of last month’s agreement to restore a tattered cease-fire and ensure sustained deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged cities, such as Aleppo, which has been under bombardment from Russian and Syrian forces.
“This is not a decision that was taken lightly,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments ... and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed.”
Kirby’s statement said that Russia and Syria are pursuing military action in violation of the cease-fire agreement.
The suspension will not affect communications between the two countries aimed at keeping their planes from bumping into each other over Syria.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, expressing “deep disappointment” about the US move and blasting Washington for the failure to separate the rebels from al-Qaida’s branch in Syria.
The suspension in Syria talks was announced just hours after the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree halting a joint program with the US on the disposal of weapons grade plutonium. The decree cited the “emerging threat to strategic stability as a result of US unfriendly actions,” as well as Washington’s failure to meet its end of the cease-fire deal.
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