World

NATO says Russia in the way of solving Syrian conflict

More than 270,000 people have died in Syria since the conflict erupted in March 2011

Afp March 04, 2016

PHOTO: REUTERS

WARSAW: NATO on Friday accused Russia of complicating the search for a solution to the Syrian conflict by bombing moderate opposition groups battling President Bashar al-Assad.

"Moscow's challenge to the international rules-based order now extends to Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean," NATO deputy secretary general Alexander Vershbow said at an annual conference in Krakow, Poland.

"As Russia has provided greater levels of military support for President Assad -- including bombing moderate opposition groups, and driving tens of thousands of civilians from Aleppo and other cities -- it has made it even more difficult to find a long-term end to the violence and a negotiated peace and political transition."

French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron had on Thursday also called on Russia and the Syrian regime to "immediately stop attacks on the moderate opposition".

Speaking ahead of peace talks set for next week, Vershbow said he hoped the "current cessation of hostilities can be developed into something much longer lasting".

Air strikes and fighting have been drastically reduced by an unprecedented ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States but some intermittent clashes and shelling continue, and many residents fear that the truce may not hold.

"Russia could still use its influence over Assad to be a force for peace in the Middle East. But it is still unclear whether this is Moscow's ultimate aim," Vershbow said.

His comments come on the heels of a stark warning earlier this week by NATO's top general that "Russia and the Assad regime are deliberately weaponizing migration in an attempt to overwhelm European structures and break European resolve."

Syria's conflict, which spiralled from widespread anti-government protests into an all-out civil war, has forced millions of people to flee their homes.

Of the record 1.2 million asylum seekers that arrived in the European Union in 2015, fresh figures published Friday showed Syrians were the largest group, numbering nearly 363,000.

More than 270,000 people have died in Syria since the conflict erupted in March 2011.

COMMENTS (2)

syed & syed | 8 years ago | Reply Iraq and Libya were once prosperous countries and NATO and Western Allies doomed these countries. Whole drama was financed by Saudi Arabia and Gulf states As far as Yemen is concerned iit is almost wiped out in 13 months of bombings by Saudi Arabia. Now is turn of Syria, if Asad goes it will become another Libya . Common in these countries was that they were against Israel. On the other hand Saudis wanted to build an empire. Turkey wants a portion of Syria and Iraq. Had Russian interference was not there this plan would have succeed.

S.R.H. Hashmi | 8 years ago | Reply There was absolutely no Russian involvement in Iraq in Saddam’s time and see the mess the West made of the country, with nearly a million innocent Iraqis killed by some accounts , and the country destabilized, with the resulting chaos now reaching countries near and far. With that sort of performance record, the Western countries hardly sound convincing, accusing Russia of complicating the search for a solution to the Syrian conflict. We have all seen what happened to Iraq and Iraqis after removal by the US and its allies of the strongman Saddam Hussain who had given the country stability, and fair degree of prosperity, though at the cost of some human rights violations in respect of those whom he considered to be the opponents of the regime. In any case, the county and its people were a thousand times better of than as compared to their situation now. And after seeing clearly what happened to Iraq and Iraqis after the forced removal of Saddam Hussain, one cannot believe that the US and its allies would have no idea as to what sort of situation will emerge in Libya and Syria, with the same formula applied by them there? Of course they knew it all. However, the map-change plans for the region had been made and they had to be implemented regardless of the cost to Libyans, Syrians and even the neighbouring countries which are unable to handle the large influx of Syrian refugees. However, their problem is that Russia – and also Iran and Hezbollah – have stepped in, making the implementation of their plans difficult, rather impossible. And another problem is the arrival of large numbers of displaced persons in Europe. While feeling free, rather considering it their birth-right to destroy others, they want perfect peace and tranquility within their own countries and are extremely worried about the arrival of refugees in substantial numbers. However, seeing that Bashar al-Assad is still there after five years, even a person of average intelligence would know that he is there to stay, and perhaps he is the only person who could establish peace in the region. However, their arrogance comes in the way of accepting this fact and they keep uttering parrot-like that Bashar al-Assad can not be a part of the future arrangements, or even during transition. It is about time somebody knocked some sense into their heads; in fact Russia is already trying to do that, but unfortunately, the message is still not getting across. And apart from other problems, because of their destabilization of the region, a new and far more menacing threat, Daish, has also emerged on the scene. And obviously, only a strong leader like Bashar al-Assad could effectively deal with Daish. And the NATO is not even trying to dissuade its ally Turkey from strengthening Daish’s finances by buying oil from it, while also allowing passage through Turkey to recruits from Europe and elsewhere on the way to join Daish. So, rather than being an obstacle to peace in Syria, Russia is playing a positive role for establishing peace in the region. In fact, these are the NATO, and its non-NATO allies which are not part of the problem, but rather the whole problem. Karachi

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