French President Francois Hollande said the military strike by the United States against the Assad regime was legitimate, but urged international actors to take advantage of the situation that emerged thereafter, in which the international community must clarify, that only through negotiations for a political solution the future of Syria can be decided.
“The response has come from the United States, we understand it because there had to be a response, but we also have to take advantage of this situation to make Syria and its regime understand that negotiations, political negotiations, must take place so that the Russians don’t think they are the only ones that can decide the future of that country along with Iran. We must do everything so that Europe can be an element that allows for negotiations and a political transition,” said Hollande.
The remarks by the French President came just before US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Moscow for the first time as the American top diplomat, carrying a unified message from western powers, denouncing Russia’s support for the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad. The visit by Secretary Tillerson carries a Western demand of Moscow to choose between its current alliance with the Islamic Republic of Iran and Syria’s government, or with the West in general and Washington in particular.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced that the tension between the United States and Russia will not “spiral out of control” following Washington’s cruise missile strike on Syria. “It will not spiral out of control. Secretary of State Tillerson is in Moscow. We maintain communications with the Russian military and with the diplomatic channels. It will not spiral out of control,” said Mattis.
The American top defense official stressed that Washington had proof that President Assad’s forces had used chemical weapons several times during the course of the deadly conflict raging in his country. Secretary Mattis warned that the use of Chemical weapons was a red line for the Trump administration, while speculating – based on the significant damage the strike inflicted on Assad’s air force – that the Syrian president has regretted the chemical attack.
“We believe that Assad has used chemical weapons several times over the last several years, violated the international law that has prohibited their use since 1925. Syria is a signatory to that international convention. For them to have done this several times recently over the last several years is what I mean by recently, you’ve got to ask him why he chose now to try it again. I trust he regrets it now considering the damage done to his air force but when I say he should think long and hard about it, I’ll just let the mission speak for itself on that score,” added Mattis.