- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
TEHRAN, March 12 - Western powers must take a stronger stance against Russia’s role in Syria, former French President François Hollande said in an interview published Monday, saying he felt “responsible” for the escalation of violence.
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club (YJC) - “The question is more how we must react to Vladimir Putin than to Bashar al-Assad,” Hollande told Le Monde in his first interview on international issues since the end of his presidency last year, Politico reported.
Because U.S. President Donald Trump’s position is unclear, it is up to Europe and NATO to react to Russia’s actions in the Middle East, said the former president.
France followed the U.S.’s lead in 2013, when it decided to negotiate on dismantling Syria’s chemical weapons program instead of conducting military strikes., Politico reported.
Hollande called for the creation of a no-fly zone above Ghouta and Afrin — something which Russia’s veto in the U.N. Security Council has made impossible — to stop the bombardment of civilians.
According to Hollande, pressure on Russia can be exerted through “sanctions, trade rules, the oil and gas issue.”
“By allowing Ankara to bomb our Kurdish allies in Syria, Moscow is also pushing for a division of NATO,” he added. “Russia has been rearming for several years, and if it is threatening, it must be threatened,” Politico quoted him as saying.
Your Comment