G20: Syria to overshadow discussions

Photograph by Garry Knight

Talk of the possible military intervention in Syria by the US and France overshadows the upcoming discussions between world leaders at the annual G20 summit in St. Petersburg.

The UN has failed to reach agreement over intervention in Syria, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning that any action outside the UN by the US and France would be considered an “aggression”, and Russia may not just stand by if such an act occurred. Softening his stance slightly, Putin did say that that Russia may support a UN resolution for military action in Syria if there was conclusive proof that it was Assad that used chemical weapons, but he does not believe the evidence from US and French intelligence proves this is the case.

US President Barack Obama said at a stop-over in Stockholm that it was not just he who set a “red line” in Syria about the use of chemical weapons, but the whole world in signing the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Obama has found support for up to a 60-day military intervention from a US Senate panel, but there are divisions within both the Democrat and Republican parties over whether the US should be involved in another war. The proposal goes before a vote in the Senate and House of Representatives next week.

President Hollande of France has said that they would support a US-led military intervention but would not act alone, whilst the UK’s parliament voted against the bill proposed by prime minister David Cameron that would have authorised possible British involvement in a military intervention in Syria.

Syria may not be officially on the agenda for the G20 summit, but as most of the world is beginning to finally pull out of the recession caused by the financial crisis in 2008, talk will likely be on Syria at least on the sidelines.