Putin reaffirms support for Syria’s Assad, hopes for Iran deal soon// No Agreement at Yemen Peace Talks in Geneva

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Putin reaffirms support for Syria’s Assad, hopes for Iran deal soon
REUTERS/J.Post/06/19/2015

ST PETERSBURG – Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia’s support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on Friday and said he opposed any use of external force to try to end the Syrian civil war. Putin showed no sign of wavering in his policy of trying to shield Assad from pressure from the West in a 4 1/2-year-old conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions.

“Our fear is that Syria could plunge into the same situation as Libya and Iraq,” Putin said in response to questions at Russia’s annual economic forum in St Petersburg. “We don’t want that … in Syria,” he said. Putin said the US policy to counter Islamic State, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, had so far had “lamentable” and “tragic” consequences.

“The United States supports Iraq [and its army]. With two or three strikes IS has captured so many arms … [that] now IS is armed better than the Iraqi army. And all this is happening with the support of the United States,” he said. Washington has backed rebels seeking to oust Assad and is now trying to build a moderate Syrian opposition to fight IS.

Putin reiterated that it is up to the Syrian people to decide the fate of Assad, adding that Russia would not call on him to step down. But, he said Russia would urge Assad to work with a “healthy” opposition on political reforms. “We are ready to work with the president to ensure a path towards political transition so as to move away from an armed confrontation. But that should not be done with the use of force from the outside,” he added.

On Iran, Putin said he believed world powers and the Islamic republic would soon sign an agreement curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions. “I think the signing should take place in the nearest future,” he said, adding that the implementation of an agreement would take about six months.

 

No Agreement at Yemen Peace Talks in Geneva
Naharnet/May 19/15/Yemen’s warring parties have failed to reach a deal at U.N.-hosted peace negotiations in Geneva that are set to wrap up Friday, Yemen’s foreign minister in exile said. “We really came here with a big hope … but unfortunately the Huthi delegation did not allow us really to reach a real progress as we expected,” Riad Yassin told reporters. He stressed though that “not getting a success as we hoped didn’t mean that we have failed,” adding efforts would continue to find a peaceful solution to Yemen’s brutal conflict. He said the government delegation remained optimistic of a peaceful solution for Yemen “under the umbrella of the U.N.,” but said no date had yet been set for the next round of talks. Yemen has been wracked by conflict between Iran-backed Shiite rebels and troops loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Saudi Arabia in February.

The rebels have overrun much of the Sunni-majority country and, along with their allies among forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been the target of Saudi-led air strikes since March. More than 2,600 people have been killed since then. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched the high-stakes Geneva negotiations on Monday with an appeal for a two-week humanitarian truce during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. But the belligerents’ positions have been so far apart that they have not even sat down in the same room, forcing U.N. special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to shuttle between them for separate consultations. The negotiations have been bogged down by the government’s insistence that the rebels must withdraw from the vast territory they control, and its protest over the size of the rebel delegation, which is more than double the pre-agreed maximum of 10. The rebels meanwhile have demanded an unconditional halt to the air strikes before they consider a pause in fighting. Ould Cheikh Ahmed was scheduled to host a news conference at the U.N. in Geneva on Friday afternoon to announce the end of the talks. Agence France Presse