G8 Calls for Syria Peace Conference, Putin Warns Europe of Arming Opposition

Local Editor

G8 leaders expressed Tuesday deep concern over the mounting danger of terrorism and extremism in Syria.

At their final statement, the G8 leaders echoed support for holding a conference in Geneva to resolve the crisis in Syria as soon as possible.

From Ireland, the leaders also called for an agreement on a Syrian transitional government "formed by mutual consent", and said the military and security services "must be preserved and restored" in a future set-up.
The world powers called on the Syrian regime and the opposition to "commit to destroying and expelling from Syria all organizations and individuals affiliated to al-Qaeda, and any other non-state actors linked to terrorism".

British Prime Minister David Cameron, the host of the meeting, said it was "unthinkable" that Assad could play a role in a transitional administration in Syria, but the G8 communique made no reference to him.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said warned that arming the Syrian opposition will only lead to escalating the crisis in Syria.
"It is impossible to stop the bloodshed in Syria except by the political means... any decisions to arm the Syrian opposition - which depend on uncertain accusations of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government - will lead to nothing but escalating the crisis," Putin said.

The Russian President didn't rule out the possibility of sending new weapon shipments to the Syrian government, saying that if Russia signed such agreements, it must honor them, and at the same time he warned the west against arming "criminals" involved in the crisis in Syria.
He affirmed that Russia exports weapons to the legitimate government in Syria according to legal contracts, asserting that Moscow's position in this regard is fully justified both morally and legally.

Putin rejected the US-European affirmations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons, asserting that there is no evidence on the use of such weapons by the Syrian government.
The Russian President said that there are none in the G8 who actually believe that the Syrian Army used chemical weapons, with several sides agreeing with Russia that there is no data that indicates such things.
"We have consensus on one thing; namely, we all denounce the use of weapons of mass destruction - including chemical weapons - no matter the source of this threat," he added.

Putin said that Russia called its partners during the G8 summit to continue work to hold the upcoming international conference on Syria in Geneva.
The Russian President also call for discussing the results of the investigation into reports on the use of chemical weapons in Syria in the framework of the UN Security Council, voicing Russia's readiness to participate actively in this process.

"The Europeans want to send weapons to those people... what will happen to these weapons? What side will look into whose hands the weapons will fall?" he wondered.

Source: News agencies, Edited by website team