07/10/2016
“Secretary of State John Kerry has not officially declared that Russia commit “war crimes” in Syria,” – John Kirby, State Department spokesman, told reporters. “He expressed his sincere opinion that these violations of international law should be properly investigated, as they could potentially be classified as war crimes,” – said Kirby. According to him, such an investigation should be carried out “in the framework of the UN and the international community.”
Official recognition by Washington of action of war crimes by any country involves a number of legal consequences for the US administration. For example, US law limits the possibility of cooperation with countries suspected of it.
Russian Foreign Ministry has said that the statements of Kerry are situation booster. “Kerry’s statement is a propaganda piece. There are very serious legal consequences for this terminology, and I think that Kerry tried all of these terms from the perspective to infuse the situation. If it comes to war crimes, US officials must begin with Iraq. And then go to Libya, not forget Yemen – find out what’s there. I want to say, these words to juggle is very dangerous, because behind the American representatives there are really war crimes,”- said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova in an interview with Russian TV channel “Rain.”
Commenting on the statement of US Secretary of State that with regard to Russia and Syria, an investigation of “war crimes should be conducted,” Zakharova hinted at the possibility of rupture of diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States. “Making statements equating the actions of Russia in Syria to war crimes, the State Department must realize that everything may end up initiating Russian nationwide referendum with only one question: “Shouldn’t we turn off the phones at the Foreign Ministry?” – She wrote at her Facebook page. She added that “the American side simply could not fulfill the ceasefire agreement” in Syria.
“They themselves have told us that they have no levers of pressure on the opposition”, – concluded the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Tags: John Kerry Russia Syria US
Join the conversation!
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.