Tillerson: Russia Must Either Align With Assad Or With US

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks during a news conference at the Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla., Thursday, April 6, 2017, (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
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Ahead of his trip to Moscow on Tuesday morning, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters that Russia has aligned with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, and that the country must choose between Assad and the United States.

Tillerson said that “the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end,” according to CBS News.

“But the question of how that ends and the transition itself could be very important in our view to the durability, the stability inside of a unified Syria,” Tillerson added, per CBS.

He called out Russia for backing Assad’s regime and told Russia to either continue to back Assad or to align with the U.S. and the Group of Seven.

“We want to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people. Russia can be a part of that future and play an important role,” Tillerson told reporters, according to the Associated Press. “Or Russia can maintain its alliance with this group, which we believe is not going to serve Russia’s interests longer term.”

Tillerson said that it is “clear Russia has failed to uphold the agreements that had been entered into for multiple UN Security Council resolutions.” He said those agreements made Russia the guarantor that Syria was free of chemical weapons. The secretary of state said that “Russia has failed in its responsibility.”

Tillerson made the remarks as he headed from diplomatic talks in Italy to Moscow for his first trip to Russia as secretary of state.

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