World leaders started Thursday in Saint Petersburg (Russia) their G20 summit amid persistent tension and deep divisions between the West and Russia over military action against Syria for using chemical weapons on rebels.
The summiteers, who were expected to discuss the world economy and growth, are now compelled to look into the Syrian crisis and will probably make peace or war decisions as the US senate has already okayed limited action Syrian regime, strengthening the stand of US president Barack Obama.
The White House chief insisted that it is not him but the international community which has set the red lines requiring a military response if the Syrian government deployed chemical weapons as now being confirmed by the UN inspectors teams in their preliminary report.
“The world set a red line when governments representing 98% of the world’s population said the use of chemical weapons was abhorrent and passed a treaty forbidding their use even when countries are engaged in war,” said Mr. Obama.
For his part, NATO’s secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke out, saying he is convinced the Syrian regime is behind the recent deadly chemical attack. This attack, carried 21 August in the outskirts of Damascus, killed hundreds of people, including many civilians and children. The European Union described the assault as a “blatant violation of international law and a crime against humanity”, which should not go unpunished.
Despite worldwide condemnations, the Russian president Vladimir Putin remains firm and inflexible on Syria, saying there is no hard proof of Syrian government involvement in that chemical attack. He warned the West against launching punitive strike without the United Nations approval, threatening to deploy Russian defense shield in Syria.
According to political analysts, the Barack-Putin meeting in this G20 summit turn out to be “one of the most awkward and uncomfortable international summits in recent memory”.
Aware of the uncomfortable mood prevailing in the summit and in a bid to avoid any further tension, the Russian officials have redrawn the seating plan to keep some distance between Mr. Obama, who is preparing military action against Assad regime and Putin, who continues to protect the Syrian regime.
Some experts say the US president and the West should keep on trying to persuade the Russians to use their leverage with the Syrian regime to end the violence because Mr. Putin is the only person who is capable of stopping the war in Syria. The summit he is hosting offers him a golden chance to do something good for the Syrian people to end their sufferings and bloodshed in the country.
But everybody is wondering whether the Russian president is going to continue playing the spoiler or he will step in to calm things down as neither the Middle-East nor the world does need to be dragged in another international war! Now It’s Putin show, let’s wait and see what he will do ?
