Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson enter a hall during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Colum Lynch and Robbie Gramer: Foreign Policy: Tillerson Ready to Let Russia Decide Assad’s Fate
In talks with the U.N. chief, Tillerson indicates Russia should be in the driver’s seat when it comes to the future of Syria.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a private State Department meeting last week that the fate of Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad now lies in the hands of Russia, and that the Trump administration’s priority is limited to defeating the Islamic State, according to three diplomatic sources familiar with the exchange.
The remarks offer the latest stop on a bumpy U.S. policy ride that has left international observers with a case of diplomatic whiplash as they try to figure out whether the Trump administration will insist that Assad step down from power. Nearly three months ago, Tillerson had insisted that Assad would have to leave office because of his alleged use of chemical weapons.
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Update: Tillerson: Russia Should Decide Assad's Fate (Zero Hedge)
WNU editor: If true .... this is a huge shift in U.S. policy towards Syria, and an indication on what the U.S. will be doing in Syria when the Islamic State has been finally defeated. Here is an easy prediction .... former Obama officials, neocons like John McCain and others, and the Arab coalition against Assad .... they are not going to be happy about this shift in U.S. policy. The big winners will be Assad (of course), the Russians, and (maybe) Iran. As for the U.S. .... I hope they will get something out of this from the Russians .... because this is a huge gift to Moscow.
Update #2: This could be one the U.S. conditions .... Syrian army announces ceasefire in south ahead of Astana talks (Reuters). I also suspect that the Iranians and their Hezbollah allies are not pleased with this ceasefire .... they are on the offensive in this part of Syria and they will see such a ceasefire as a means to stop them from achieving their objectives of establishing a "corridor" from Iran to Lebanon.
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