Despite Skepticism Of Putin, Schumer Welcomes U.S.-Russia Deal On Syria
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) says he does not trust Vladimir Putin, but he also welcomes any help the Russian president can provide in removing chemical weapons from Syria.
"Obviously, we're going to have to be real careful," Schumer said of an agreement between Russia and the United States that could prevent a U.S. military strike on the Syrian government. "Neither (Syrian President Bashar) Assad nor Putin is to be trusted. ... I am not a fan of Putin. I think he does many, many bad things in his country and elsewhere, but if he finds it is in his interest to come clean here and help, it's a good thing."
Schumer, speaking Sunday to 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck on the Lower East Side, added that it may be in Putin's interest to disarm Syria of chemical weapons.
Despite Skepticism Of Putin, Schumer Welcomes U.S.-Russia Deal On Syria
"There are Islamic fundamentalists rebels in Chechnya, and some of those might be in Syria," he said. "So if they get hold of these chemical weapons, (they might) send them up to Chechnya."
Meanwhile, a high-ranking Syrian official called the U.S.-Russian agreement on securing Syria's chemical weapons a "victory" for President Bashar Assad's regime, but the U.S. warned Sunday "the threat of force is real" if Damascus fails to carry out the plan.
The comments by Syrian Minister of National Reconciliation Ali Haidar to a Russian state news agency were the first by a senior Syrian government official on the deal struck a day earlier in Geneva. Under the agreement, Syria will provide an inventory of its chemical arsenal within one week and hand over all of the components of its program by mid-2014.
"We welcome these agreements," Haidar was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti agency. "On the one hand, they will help Syrians get out of the crisis, and on the other hand, they averted a war against Syria by removing the pretext for those who wanted to unleash one."
There has been no official statement from the Syrian government, and it was not clear whether Haidar's comments reflected Assad's thinking.
The deal, hashed out in marathon negotiations between U.S. and Russian diplomats, averts American missile strikes against the Assad regime, although the Obama administration has warned that the military option remains on the table if Damascus does not comply. President Barack Obama said last week the U.S. Navy will maintain its increased presence in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to keep pressure on Syria and to be in position to respond if diplomacy fails.
"The threat of force is real, and the Assad regime and all those taking part need to understand that President Obama and the United States are committed to achieve this goal," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday in Jerusalem, where he briefed Israeli leaders on the agreement.
He also said the agreement, if successful, "will have set a marker for the standard of behavior with respect to Iran and with respect North Korea and any rogue state, (or) group that tries to reach for these kind of weapons."
The U.S. accuses the Assad government of using poison gas against rebel-held suburbs of Damascus on Aug. 21, killing more than 1,400 people. Other death toll estimates are far lower. Syria denies the allegations and blames the rebels.
The suspected chemical attack raised the prospect of U.S.-led military action against Syria that the rebels hoped would tip the civil war in their favor. But as the strikes appeared imminent, the Parliament of key U.S. ally Britain voted against military action and Obama decided to ask Congress for authorization first, delaying an armed response.
Russia then floated the idea of Syria relinquishing its chemical arsenal to avert Western strikes, and the Assad regime quickly agreed. On Saturday, Moscow and Washington struck a framework agreement to secure and destroy Syria's chemical stockpile.
For Syria's opposition, the deal is disappointing in many ways. It defers any U.S. action for the foreseeable future and does nothing to address the broader civil war or the use of conventional weapons, which have been responsible for the vast majority of the more than 100,000 deaths in the conflict.
With that in mind, the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group called Sunday for a ban on the use of ballistic missiles and air power by Assad's forces in addition to the prohibition on chemical weapons.
"Chemical weapons attacks are a part of a bigger scheme of crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime, including using the Syrian air forces and ballistic missiles on residential areas," the Syrian National Coalition said on its official website. "The Syrian Coalition insists that the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons, which killed more than 1,400 Syrian civilians, be extended to include the prohibition of the use of air forces and ballistic missiles on residential areas."
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