White House, Kremlin still at odd over Syria

A former Russian diplomat said that Moscow and Washington differ over how to end the political standoff in Syria. “The West aims to launch a diplomatic struggle to reach their strategic goal,” Vicheslov Motozov, a former Russian diplomat told Al-Alam news channel on Thursday. The Russian diplomat said “despite recent talks between John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov which showed that Washington and Moscow’s stances get close to each other over Syria, but Moscow is still concerned over US efforts to adopt military option and force in diplomacy.” Syria’s decision to put its chemical weapons under international supervision has eased tensions in the Middle-East which came onto the edge of a devastating conflict. The former diplomat welcomed US withdrawal from previous stance to enter into direct conflict with Syria, but said the West plans to achieve its means through turning up the heat on Syria and boosting diplomatic pressure, so the diplomatic war is still brewing. “If the UN investigators who are verifying chemical attacks in Syria provide ‘tainted information’, it proves that the UN Security Council (UNSC) gave no value to the investigation team dispatched to Syria,” the diplomat added. On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an interview with Fox News reiterated that Syrian army has never used chemical weapons. During the televised interview, al-Assad discussed the Russian proposed blueprint on Syria’s chemical warfare supervision to prove his readiness to cooperate with Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The five permanent members of the UNSC split over how to deal with Syria over its commitment to bring chemical weapons under international control. Russia reiterated that Moscow is against the use of force against Syria and believes that the UN inspector’s report on the recent chemical attacks in Syria is biased and politically motivated. The call for military action against Syria intensified after foreign-backed opposition forces accused the Syrian government of launching a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21. Damascus has vehemently denied the accusations, saying the chemical attack was carried out by the militants themselves as a false flag operation. Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants operating inside Syria. According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million of others displaced due to the violence.