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Group of 8 Leaders Press Russia on Syria G-8 Meeting Ends With Cordial Stalemate on Syria
(about 17 hours later)
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — Senior officials at a meeting of the Group of 8 industrialized countries here struggled on Tuesday to draft a statement on the war in Syria acceptable to both Russia — the main international backer of President Bashar al-Assad — and to countries that want to see a rapid transition of power in Damascus. ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — The United States and leaders of other major industrialized nations on Tuesday papered over differences on Syria and the global economy in statements that summarized their two-day annual summit meeting at a secluded lakeside resort here.
Tensions over how to deal with the widening conflict and growing humanitarian crisis in Syria have dominated the two-day meeting in Northern Ireland that ends Tuesday. On the issue that dominated the private talks of the so-called Group of 8, the worsening regional war in Syria, the leaders averted a clash with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia by avoiding mention in their declaration of the most contentious matters that divide him and them. Those include the fate of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Russia’s ally, in any peace settlement with the rebels.
The summit meeting’s host, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, had indicated that he was hoping the gathering would yield a joint declaration as the basis for talks expected to take place in Geneva under the auspices of the United States and Russia. And despite persistent differences between the Obama administration and the Europeans over Europe’s insistence on continued budget cutting instead of stimulus measures in the face of Continentwide recession, the parties’ final communiqué suggested agreement on economic policies in language that either side could embrace.
British officials hope that Mr. Assad could be persuaded to send a representative to those discussions, paving the way for him to relinquish power. “Promoting growth and jobs is our top priority,” it said in a line that belied divisions between the Americans and European leaders over whether austerity or stimulus best achieves the goal.
But Western hopes that the peace conference in Geneva could take place in July were also receding because this might prove “too early” for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, said a Western diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because the summit statement had yet to be finalized. The issue will remain alive, however, as President Obama went to Berlin on Tuesday evening for a state visit with Chancellor Angela Merkel, who as the head of Europe’s major economy is most influential in determining the course of the 27-nation European Union. Ms. Merkel, who has lately eased just slightly Germany’s demands on other indebted neighbors, attended the Group of 8 meeting, along with Mr. Obama and the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and Russia.
Mr. Putin has supported Mr. Assad both diplomatically and with weapons. He has warned against American plans to begin sending some arms to rebels there and he has said he does not believe the rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian leader in a bloody civil war that has claimed an estimated 93,000 lives have the capacity to form an alternative government. While economic issues typically are the focus of these meetings, this two-day gathering was preoccupied by the spike in tensions over the two-year-old Syrian conflict. The war has so far killed about 93,000 people, including women and children, the United Nations recently estimated.
As the line-by-line discussion of the summit declaration continued on Tuesday, there was a growing likelihood that Russia would sign up to a communiqué with the other seven nations but only in return for softer language about a political transition. After lengthy negotiations the leaders endorsed the idea of holding a new peace conference in Geneva “as soon as possible,” something that Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, the meeting’s host, said had been “slipping away” before the discussions.
The summit statement was also expected to announce initiatives on tackling global tax avoidance and on clamping down on the legal ruses used by multinational companies to reduce their tax liabilities. Britain is also seeking an agreement on preventing ransom payments in kidnappings, which it believes is now a major source of terrorist funding. The Geneva meeting is now likely to be delayed until late August or September, according to one Western official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. That has fueled fears that Mr. Putin is playing for time on Mr. Assad’s behalf, calculating that by late summer Syria’s fragmented opposition will be further weakened by military reverses.
Late Monday, leaders gathered for talks over dinner to press Russia to overcome its deep differences with other industrialized nations and agree to a series of principles governing a transition of power in Syria. The leaders’ declaration gave a little more detail about how a transition to a new government in Syria would work. But its cautionary language and the absence of a call for Mr. Assad’s departure — as Mr. Obama and some European leaders demand — underscored the extent to which Mr. Putin supported the Syrian leader, despite being heavily outnumbered in discussions on Monday with the seven other heads of state.
Ahead of the dinner, President Barack Obama met Mr. Putin to try to persuade him to put pressure on Mr. Assad to negotiate a transition. Though Russia is Syria’s principal arms supplier, Mr. Putin warned the others against United States plans to begin sending some light arms and ammunition to Syrian rebels; even before Mr. Obama’s decision, France and Britain supported an end to a European embargo on arms transfers to the opposition.
The five principles discussed over dinner were the provision of humanitarian assistance; moves to combat extremist elements; a declaration that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable; preparations for stabilization after a change of government; and discussion over a transition to a new executive authority in Syria. Mr. Putin, playing on the others’ fears that the rebels include extremists allied with Al Qaeda, repeated his contention that the disparate opposition could not form an alternative government, according to another Western diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the discussions.
“Our objective remains progress toward a political solution which results in a transitional government,” said a spokesman for Mr. Cameron on Tuesday, describing the talks between the G-8 leaders on Syria as a “real discussion.” Nevertheless, as those allied against Russia at the meeting noted, the summit declaration did include an implicit appeal to members of Mr. Assad’s government to abandon him, by suggesting that they could survive in a new government that excluded him. It said that public services in Syria must be preserved in a transition, and specified that “this includes the military forces and security services.”
“It wasn’t people reading out pre-prepared position papers. It was a real engagement on these difficult subjects,” said the spokesman, who was not identified by name, in line with British government policy. “There was an acknowledgment on all sides of the importance of putting in place the conditions that could lead to” successful talks in Geneva. Mr. Cameron, in a post-summit news conference, said, “For those who have been loyal to Assad but who know he has to go and who want stability in their country, they should take note of this point.”
All eight leaders spoke during the talks on Syria, which took up more than one hour of the two-hour dinner, but Mr. Obama, Mr. Putin, Mr. Cameron and President François Hollande of France contributed the most to the discussion. During the talks, Mr. Putin argued forcefully that the Syrian opposition was not ready to form an alternative government, the Western diplomat said, adding that the discussion was frank but calm, with no raised voices. The leaders condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria but, again in deference to Mr. Putin, did not blame Mr. Assad for using them against the rebels as the Americans, British and French allege. It called for an “objective investigation into reports of the use of chemical weapons,” though the United States, France and Britain all claim to have hard evidence of the lethal use of such weapons to take to the United Nations.
The talks Monday night took place in a lakeside lodge with few officials present, over a meal of crab, prawn and avocado salad, roast beef and apple crumble. “Both of our governments have strong evidence that in fact chemical weapons have been used in the past by the Assad regime,” Mr. Obama told reporters on Tuesday after a private meeting with President François Hollande of France. “But we are very comfortable with the approach taken by the G-8 that allows the U.N. the full powers it needs to investigate and establish these facts on the ground.”
Well before the start on Monday of the G-8 summit meeting, divisions were on display over Syria. Mr. Cameron conceded that he found some elements of the Syrian opposition worrying but sought to keep open the option of arming those who want a democratic future. The communiqué also evenhandedly called on both the Syrian government and opposition “to commit to destroying and expelling from Syria all organizations and individuals affiliated with Al Qaeda and any other nonstate actors linked to terrorism.”
Speaking on Monday in Northern Ireland, Mr. Cameron, who faces internal opposition within his coalition government to arming the rebels, said he had made no decision on the issue. Despite the clear divisions between Russia and everyone else — something that both Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin had archly acknowledged after a one-on-one meeting on Monday — the White House released a statement on the summit that applauded “the international consensus that was reached on Syria.”
“I am as worried as anyone else about elements of the Syrian opposition who are extremists, who support terrorism, who are a great danger to our world,” Mr. Cameron said. “The question is what do we do about that?” In support of that positive take, the administration cited the agreement on a political process in Geneva to resolve the conflict, investigation of chemical weapons use and $1.5 billion in additional humanitarian support for Syrians.
“My argument is that we shouldn’t accept that the only alternative to Assad is terrorism and violence,” Mr. Cameron said. “We should be on the side of Syrians who want a democratic and peaceful future for their country and one without the man who is currently using chemical weapons against them.” The leaders, dressed casually throughout, met in a high-ceilinged room of a lodge at table small enough to reach across and shake hands, and near windows looking out at Lake Erne, for which the resort it is named.
After a meeting in London on Sunday with the prime minister, Mr. Putin responded in combative style after being asked if he had blood on his hands for providing military support to the Assad government. Of the economic issues, a prominent was one placed on the agenda by Mr. Cameron. He raised the question of cooperation against both illegal tax evasion and legal ruses that multinational companies use to reduce their tax liabilities.
“One hardly should back those who kill their enemies and, you know, eat their organs,” he said, referring to a widely publicized video in which a member of an anti-Assad militia appears to bite an internal organ from a dead government soldier. While much about the tax crackdown promise was left to each nation’s discretion and lawmaking, the leaders agreed to press for more openness to disclose who owns companies and to deepen information-sharing between tax authorities.
“Do we want to support these people?” Mr. Putin asked. “Do we want to supply arms to these people?” On the broader issue of global economic policy, which often had dominated these meetings since the international financial crisis in late 2008, the leaders were equally vague and even self-congratulatory despite continued high unemployment, especially in much of Europe.
The United States has said that it would supply some rebels with direct military aid, and Britain and France succeeded in getting the European Union to allow its ban on supplying arms to the country to expire, despite the reservations of many countries within the 27-member bloc. The declaration claimed that economic risks internationally had been reduced partly by “significant policy actions taken in the U.S., euro area and Japan.” Without specifics, it said that “decisive action is needed to nurture a sustainable recovery and restore the resilience of the global economy” through a balance of stimulus, budget cuts and other measures.
On Monday, Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, told the BBC that there was no “palatable option” for dealing with the crisis in Syria and that “extremists” were supporting both Mr. Assad’s government and the rebel forces. The help would go to “moderates,” he said. And in a nod to the divisions both between the United States and Europe, and between Germany and other European nations, the leaders concluded their statement by calling for reductions in national budget deficits and debt, saying in the declaration, “The pace of fiscal consolidation should be differentiated for our different national economic circumstances.”