The minister said Vladimir Putin must ensure Assad regime chemical weapons are destroyed
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has demanded Russia rein in Syrian dictatorBashar Assad claiming that Moscow is “responsible for every civilian death” that followed a chemical weapons attack in the country’s civil war.
Mr Fallon said the attack had happened “on their watch” and that Vladimir Putin must now live up to previously made promises that Assad’s chemical weapons are destroyed.
Later this week Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Moscow, while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will garner support at the G7.
Writing in The Times, Mr Fallon said Russia must be part of the solution to ending the “needless suffering” of Syrian civilians.
“Assad's principal backer is Russia. By proxy Russia is responsible for every civilian death last week,” he said.
“If Russia wants to be absolved of responsibility for future attacks, Vladimir Putin needs to enforce commitments, to dismantle Assad's chemical weapons arsenal for good, and to get fully engaged with the UN peacekeeping progress.”
After previous gas attacks in Syria which the West blamed on the Assad regime, Mr Putin made a deal with former-president Barack Obama to scrap Syria's arsenal of deadly chemical weapons.
But Mr Fallon said the launching of almost 60 missiles at the regime airbase from which the attack is said to have originated would now make future incidents less likely.
He wrote: “By sending Tomahawk missiles to attack the airfield, aeroplanes and equipment believed to be involved, it has sent a strong signal to the Syrian regime to think twice before using gas in the future.”
Mr Fallon went on that there must now be a longer-term solution to the conflict that does not involve Assad, adding: “Someone who uses barrel bombs and chemicals to kill his own people simply cannot be the future leader of Syria.”
Mr Johnson is to spearhead demands for Russia to withdraw its forces from Syria when he meets G7 leaders in Italy next week.
He said the UK continues to “deplore” Moscow's defence of Assad's regime as he pulled out of talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
But the cancellation, which came after discussions with US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, led to him being criticised as “Washington's poodle”, an attack dismissed by the Foreign Office.
Mr Tillerson will go ahead with his visit to Russia to “deliver that clear and co-ordinated” message to Moscow, which continues to deny Syrian forces used chemical weapons last week.
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