EU Urges Relaunch Of Syria Talks After Strikes
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published April 16, 2018 | 06:01 PM
EU foreign ministers on Monday backed "all efforts" to stop Syria using chemical weapons, after weekend strikes by Britain, France and the US, but called for renewed efforts to find a political solution to the seven-year war.
Luxembourg, Luxembourg, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Apr, 2018 ) :EU foreign ministers on Monday backed "all efforts" to stop Syria using chemical weapons, after weekend strikes by Britain, France and the US, but called for renewed efforts to find a political solution to the seven-year war.
The 28 ministers condemned the military offensive, backed by Russia, that the Syrian government is waging against rebels and called for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian access. US, French and British missiles destroyed suspected chemical weapons development and storage sites in Syria on Saturday in response to an alleged chemical attack in the town of Douma which killed at least 40 people.
In a statement after talks in Luxembourg, EU foreign ministers unequivocally blamed President Bashar al-Assad's regime for the Douma attack and gave implicit backing to Saturday's Western military action.
"The Council understands that the targeted US, French and UK airstrikes on chemical weapons facilities in Syria were specific measures.
.. with the sole objective to prevent further use of chemical weapons and chemical substances as weapons by the Syrian regime to kill its own people," the statement said.
"The Council is supportive of all efforts aimed at the prevention of the use of chemical weapons." French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the EU was "united at a very serious moment" in wanting to "prevent and dissuade against any use of chemical weapons".
Germany's powerful Chancellor Angela Merkel declared the strikes "necessary and appropriate", but other EU members have been keen to avoid any step that could lead to further escalation. Johnson stressed the strikes were "not an attempt to change the tide of the war in Syria or to have regime change or to get rid of Bashar al-Assad".
The day before the strikes Russian President Vladimir Putin warned during phone talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron against "ill-considered and dangerous actions" in Syria which could lead to "unpredictable consequences".
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