Washington’s fresh accusations aim at sabotaging the political process regarding Syria

Tabnak – While the latest Russian-initiated peace talks on Syria was rather successful in creating a common ground between different factions, the United States is apparently trying to sabotage the peace efforts by raising unproven claims against the Syrian government.

According to CNN, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis has warned the Syrian government against the use of chemical weapons, telling reporters Friday "you have all seen how we reacted to that, so they'd be ill advised to go back to violating the chemical convention."  

Asked if the Syrian regime was using chlorine weapons Mattis claimed he believed they had done so "repeatedly" but said that the US is "even more concerned about the possibility of Sarin use, the likelihood of Sarin use, and we're looking for the evidence." 

Mattis said he does not believe that Syria has kept to the 2013 agreement brokered by the US and Russia that required the Assad regime to relinquish their chemical weapons.

Some analysts believe that fresh allegations by the US against Damascus aims first of all at keeping the flame of Syrian conflict alive, not letting rival parties, especially Russia and Iran to continue their path toward a solution for the devastating civil war.

In this vein, Washington and its Western allies downplay the latest peace talks, initiated by Russia which were held last week in Sochi. There have been also criticisms of the United Nations for endorsing the talks and sending its especial envoy for Syria to the Russian city. 

However, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres rejected such criticism, praising the outcome of the discussions.   

Speaking at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday, Guterres said the presence of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura “in Sochi was based on a common understanding between the United Nations and the Russian Federation on the nature and outcome of the meeting and its contribution to the [UN-mediated] Geneva process.”

“The congress concluded with a statement fully in line with that common understanding,” he added. Guterres also appreciated Russia’s engagement with the UN regarding the Syria talks.

He highlighted the key subjects of the 12-point final Sochi statement, saying that the document embraced a vision of Syria for all its citizens and underlined the need for the formation of a Constitutional Committee under UN auspices.

It should be noted that the Sochi conference took place just days after the ninth round of UN-led Syria talks failed to achieve tangible results. That round was exceptionally held in the Austrian capital, Vienna, instead of its usual venue of Geneva.