Tillerson and Lavrov Clash on Syria, Assad’s Future

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday delivered some of his harshest remarks yet regarding Syria, while his Russian host, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, deflected.

The joint news conference in Moscow came after four hours of meetings, including two with Russia President Vladimir Putin. Tillerson’s visit to Russia comes at a tense time for relations between the two countries. President Donald Trump last week ordered a missile strike on Syria after a chemical-weapons attack that the administration says the regime carried out days earlier.

“We’re quite confident of that. This is just the latest in a series of the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.”

Tillerson, who only a few years ago accepted a “Friend of Russia” honor when he was the CEO of ExxonMobil, did not mince words.

“The perspective of the United States, supported by the facts we have, are conclusive that the recent chemical-weapons attack carried out in Syria was planned, and it was directed and executed by Syrian regime forces,” he said. “We’re quite confident of that. This is just the latest in a series of the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.”

Tillerson stopped short of accusing Russia of complicity in the latest chemical-weapons attack but said evidence might eventually pass the threshold for charging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with war crimes.

Reacting to a question from a Russian reporter about Trump’s likening of the Syrian regime to dogs, Tillerson said, “That characterization is one that President Assad has brought on himself.”

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Lavrov disagreed.

“Obviously, this is a subject where we diverge,” he said through an interpreter.

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was even more forceful in her rhetoric at the Security Council on Wednesday. To Russia, she said, “You are isolating yourselves from the international community.”

She urged action against Syria.

“It is long past time for Russia to stop covering for Assad,” she said.

But Russia vetoed a resolution condemning Syria.

White House officials on Tuesday laid out an extensive case pointing to Syria.

In recent days, Russian officials have alleged that the chemical attack that killed more than 100 people in the Idlib Province might have been staged to provoke a U.S. attack, or that a bomb may have struck terrorist-held chemical weapons stockpiles.

On Wednesday, however, Lavrov offered a more subtle defense.

“We saw no proof that this is what happened there,” he said.

Lavrov did not say that Assad was framed. Instead, he condemned a rush to judgment.

“Russia insists on an objective investigation, together with the United States,” he said.

Lavrov said his country in 2013 initiated the process for getting rid of Syria’s chemical weapons. He said Russia wants to work through a fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations. He said claims of Syrian chemical weapons use are based on “remote indications” by non-government organizations.

Meanwhile, Lavrov insisted, the international community has ignored compelling evidence of chemical weapons held in rebel-controlled areas.

“The Syrian government and Russian servicemen have repeatedly provided evidence, including samples … to the OPCW,” he said. “This was hard evidence, not hearsay.”

Lavrov also accused the administration of former President Barack Obama of turning a blind eye to the al-Nusra Front, a rebranded al-Qaida group that has been fighting in Syria.

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“The coalition put together by the Obama administration basically did nothing to achieve the goal that it was supposedly created for. It did not fight efficiently with ISIS and with the al-Nusra Front,” he said. “Nothing happened before Russian air force came. And even after that, the U.S.-led coalition under the Obama administration only launched airstrikes against certain positions of ISIL. They never attacked the al-Nusra Front. And we have strong suspicions that nobody has been able to alleviate that they still want to spare al-Nusra.”

U.S. officials have denied those allegations.

Tillerson said Assad must leave office in an “orderly” way and said Russia could play a constructive role.

“Clearly, our view is that the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end,” he said. “They have, again, brought this on themselves with their conduct in the war these past few years.”