West Steps Up Pressure On Russia Over Syria, Assad Allies Threaten To Respond To 'Aggression' - VOA

[TomSea]

West Steps Up Pressure On Russia Over Syria, Assad Allies Threaten To Respond To 'Aggression'

People demonstrate against Russia for its alleged role in a chemical attack in the Syrian province of Idlib, in front of the Russian Embassy in Ankara on April 7.

The United States and Britain kave stepped up pressure on Russia to rein in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as Damascus's allies vowed to respond to any "aggression" against Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in an interview with ABC's This Week program aired on April 9 that in meetings next week in Moscow, he will call upon the Russian government to live up to a 2013 agreement that was intended to strip Syria of its chemical-weapons stockpiles.

"It agreed to be the guarantor of the elimination of the chemical weapons, and why Russia has not been able to achieve that is unclear to me," said Tillerson, who is to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on April 11.

Continued: http://www.rferl.org/a/iran-backs-syria-assad-after-us-missile-strike/28419213.html