French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to convince President Trump to revive western “colonialism” in Syria, according to Russia’s top diplomat.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized Macron by name over the French president’s recent push for Trump to abandon plans for a sudden withdrawal from Syria. Russia, which rescued Syrian President Bashar Assad from the brink of defeat in the civil war, wants the United States to leave the war-torn country, which is divided largely into areas controlled by pro-Assad forces or by the U.S.-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State in Syria.
“The plans our Western colleagues are nurturing with regard to Syria are a matter of concern for us,” Lavrov said Monday. “I heard that President of France Emmanuel Macron has recently called on the U.S. not to withdraw its troops from Syria even after the last terrorist is destroyed or forced to leave the country. The French leader went so far as to suggest a permanent deployment in order to build a new Syria. This is reminiscent of colonialism.”
Lavrov was referring to an interview Macron gave last Sunday, following the western airstrikes against Assad over the latest chemical weapons attack, in which the French president said he had “convinced [Trump] that it was necessary to stay” in Syria even after the defeat of ISIS. Macron softened the claim within days, followed by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis telling lawmakers that Trump does plan to withdraw as soon as possible.
But Macron plans to continue making his case for a longer-term commitment. “The day we will finish this war against ISIS, if we leave, definitely and totally, even from a political point of view, we will leave the floor to the Iranian regime, Bashar al-Assad and his guys, and they will prepare the new war,” he told Fox News’ Chris Wallace. “They will fuel the new terrorists.”
Lavrov timed his rebuke of Macron’s recent to be doubly-pointed, as he is traveling in China while Macron is arriving in Washington, D.C., for the first state dinner of Trump’s presidency.
“We exchanged opinions on the situation in Syria. Both parties agree that the missile strike on Syria delivered by the United States and its allies was a flagrant violation of international law,” Lavrov said of his meetings with Chinese officials. “We pointed out that there is no alternative to a political and diplomatic settlement of the Syrian crisis. We agreed to more closely coordinate our positions on this matter, including at the U.N. Security Council.”
