Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations on Monday united to condemn Russia for behavior that they said undermined international laws as the United States stressed that Moscow must stop creating impediments to peace in Syria or will be held accountable.
The ministers agreed to create a working group to study Russia’s “malign behavior” given concerns about Moscow’s actions in Ukraine and Syria, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said.
Johnson’s comments underlined how tensions between Moscow and the West have increased steadily over recent years.
Acting US Secretary of State John Sullivan called on Moscow to stop creating impediments to peace in Syria and to play a role in ending the seven-year-long conflict.
“Russia must be a constructive partner in Syria or will be held accountable,” Sullivan told reporters.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Russia had to contribute its share to a political solution in Syria.”
The Syrian Coalition earlier said that Russia is a partner in the crimes the Assad regime is committing in Syria as it stressed that Russia covers up Assad war crimes against the Syrian people, the latest of which was the April 7 chemical attack in the town of Douma.
Moscow used its veto power 12 times at the UN Security Council to shield Assad against punishment, six of which were used to stop a UN-OPCW investigation into the use of chemical weapons.
Moscow began its military aggression against Syria in late September 2015. Russian forces have been supporting regime forces and the Iranian militias in all military operations against the rebel-held areas, committing widespread war crimes against civilians. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
