Rex Tillerson delivers US ultimatum to Russia on Syria: It's us or them

Tillerson did not spell out what the punishment would be for a Russian government that has used its military might to help Assad and his allies score a series of battlefield successes during their six-year war with Syrian opposition groups.

Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately showed he would not back down, saying Russia knew about planned “provocations” to blame Syria’s government for using chemical weapons. He said the UN should first investigate the attack.

“It reminds me of the events in 2003 when US envoys to the Security Council were demonstrating what they said were chemical weapons found in Iraq,” Putin said. “We have seen it all already.”

Tillerson is in Moscow to meet with Russian officials about the Syrian civil war in the first official trip there by a member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet. Before heading to Russia, he told reporters Moscow had either failed to take seriously its obligation to rid Syria of chemical weapons or had been incompetent, but, he said, the distinction “doesn’t much matter to the dead”.

Tillerson’s trip follows Monday’s claim by a senior US official that Washington had concluded Russia knew in advance of Syria’s chemical weapons attack. The official did not offer concrete proof and others in the Trump administration cautioned that no final determination of Russia’s foresight had been made.

“We cannot let this happen again,” Tillerson said of the chemical attack. “We want to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people. Russia can be a part of that future and play an important role, or Russia can maintain its alliance with Syria and Iran.”

Russia’s foreign ministry said it hoped for “productive talks”, and that the outcome of the discussions was important not only for the US-Russian relationship, but “for the overall atmosphere on the world stage”.

The accusations followed a long-set pattern for Syria’s civil war. Under president Barack Obama, the US accused Russia of supporting Assad in war crimes against civilians and of employing a sophisticated disinformation campaign to protect its ally.

Assad and Russia have accused the US of supporting terrorist groups, who have staged atrocities to gain international sympathy for their cause.

There was one key difference – after the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on a Syrian air base, Trump can now offer both a credible threat that the US will use force in Syria if the stalemate persists. His administration, however, has offered mixed messages about whether, and when, Assad must surrender power.

Tillerson said it was clear the US saw no role for Assad in Syria’s future, given that he had lost legitimacy. He said: “It is clear to all of us that the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end. But the question of how that ends and the transition itself could be very important in our view to the durability, the stability inside of a unified Syria.”

Alex Salmond, the SNP’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson, said there should be an international investig-ation into the chemical attack, sponsored by the Security Council, and if that were blocked, it should be ordered by the UN General Assembly.

“The findings should then be taken to the International Criminal Court and those responsible should be arraigned and subjected to the force of international law,” he said.

“The same procedure should be used for all those – state actors included – who use banned weapons against civilian populations and in this fashion we have the hope of restoring a semblance of decency to the conduct of conflict. Any other approach relegates criminal acts to being part of the arm-wrestling of power politics.

“Boris Johnson’s bumbling performance as Foreign Secretary is beyond parody. He cancelled his diplomatic initiative in Moscow on the pretext of rallying the G7 for sanctions against Russia – this before a case had even been made. When this is rejected he declares himself satisfied. He is not just America’s poodle but a toothless one – all bark and no bite.”