By Aaron Miller-
Russia has challenged Donald Trump, to make his policy on Syria clear.
Maria Zakhorova
Foreign minister , Maria Zakhorova told CNN that Russia’s stance on Assad is clear: “he is the democratically elected leader of Syria”. She then asked the American president to make his position clear.
Her comments came in the wake of the recent chemical attack in Syria that killed 86 people , including children.Trump was appalled by the attack, describing it as ” heinous” , but stopped short of spelling out what he would do in response.
COLLISION
Donald Trump has always spoken against removing Assad from power, mainly to avoid a potential collision with Russia. The tough talking and controversial U.S president now seems to be changing his tune. And so he should be.
I’m a tweet from Trump he said ” the attack crossed many lines for me”. Russia’s blind support for Assad’s s deadly regime has appalled world leaders and analysts for years.
Zakhorova’ s response sounds like an expression of uncompromising support for a regime that has fearlessly committed atrocious crimes against its own people.
APPROVAL
Her line that Assad is the democratically elected leader of an independent country suggests a blanket approval for leaders to act as they please, even if it means killing people in such a callous manner. It appears to imply complete immunity for leaders from all their actions. If this is the philosophy she subscribes to, it is a very abhorrent one.
Zakhorova did not explicitly state her support for Assad’s regime or the heinous crimes allegedly perpetrated by his regime. However, it is pretty obvious where she stands on Syria.
SEVERE
The excessive and repulsive levels of his atrocities are too severe for any leader of the civil world to ignore.
Syria has denied the attack , and Russian voices seem to be leaning towards the cautious rhetoric that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.