Munich: Senior Republican Senator John McCain sharply criticised the deal to seek a temporary truce in Syria, arguing on Sunday that Russia is engaging in “diplomacy in the service of military aggression”.
Diplomats from a group of countries that have interests in Syria’s five-year civil war, including the US, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, agreed on Friday to seek a temporary “cessation of hostilities” within a week. They also agreed to “accelerate and expand” deliveries of humanitarian aid to besieged Syrian communities beginning this week.
It remains unclear whether those commitments can be made to stick on the ground and whether deep differences regarding the truce and which groups would be eligible for it — between the US and Russia among others — can be overcome.
The truce deal in Munich comes as Syrian government forces, aided by a Russian bombing campaign, are trying to encircle rebels in Aleppo, the country’s largest city, and cut off their supply route to Turkey.
“I wish I could share the views of some of my friends who see this agreement as a potential breakthrough but unfortunately I do not,” McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at the Munich Security Conference.
“Let’s be clear about what this agreement does: it permits the assault on Aleppo to continue for another week. It requires opposition groups to stop fighting, but it allows Russia to continue bombing terrorists — which it insists is everyone, even civilians,” he said.
“If Russia or the [President Bashar Al] Assad regime violates this agreement, what are the consequences?” he asked. “I don’t see any.”
McCain said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the [Al] Assad regime. He wants to re-establish Russia as a major power in the Middle East”.
“This is diplomacy in the service of military aggression and it’s working because we are letting it,” he said.
