The leaders of Russia and the United States, now openly backing opposing sides in Syria’s civil war, played down their differences after talks where tensions had clearly flared over the escalating conflict.
Staring mostly at the floor as he stood alongside US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladmir Putin said he and Obama had agreed to encourage the warring parties to attend negotiations.
«Our positions do not fully coincide, but we are united by the common intention to end the violence, to stop the number of victims increasing in Syria, to resolve the problems by peaceful means, including the Geneva talks,» he said after a showdown with Obama at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland.
Heavy fighting resumed around the northern Syrian town of Aleppo, where rebels, buoyed by Obama’s decision last week to arm them, tried to block an advance into the north by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, who are supplied by Moscow.
In new evidence of growing foreign support for the rebels, a Gulf source told Reuters Saudi Arabia had equipped fighters for the first time with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, their most urgent request. Rebels said Riyadh had also sent them anti-tank missiles.
The two developments sent the Syrian currency plunging to a new low in what dealers and bankers said was a chaotic scramble for dollars.
After months of indecision, the Obama administration announced it would arm the rebels because Assad’s forces had crossed a «red line» by using nerve gas. That has put Washington on the opposite side of the two-year-old civil war from its Cold War foe Moscow, which supplies weapons to Assad.
European nations backing the rebels would «pay the price» if they joined those sending weapons to Syria, Assad told a German newspaper.
The United Nations has urged all sides to stop sending arms to a conflict that has killed at least 93,000 and shows no sign of abating. But those calls have been ignored, with regional and global powers doubling down on support for either side.
The White House said last week Obama would try to persuade Putin to drop support for Assad at a summit of the G8 group of world powers in Northern Ireland. With both men looking uncomfortable after their first face-to-face meeting in a year, there were no signs Putin was convinced.
Obama said they had «differing perspectives» on Syria but shared an interest in ending violence and ensuring chemical weapons were not used.
Russia says it is unconvinced by U.S. evidence accusing Assad of using chemical weapons, and said on Monday it would block any attempt to impose a no-fly zone over Syria, a step Washington says it has not yet decided on but is on the table.
The United States moved anti-aircraft missile batteries and warplanes to Jordan in recent weeks, which Moscow believes are a precursor to a no-fly zone.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald