EU High Representative Catherine Ashton commented on the recent developments in Syria, emphasising the need for the continuation of the Geneva talks.
On 26 August, the EU High Representative met with the Foreign Minister of Estonia, Urmas Paet and spoke about the Syrian crisis. Ashton told journalists, that her position is well stated. Ashton said that the international community has to find a “political process that is going to bring peace and security to Syria,” such as the Geneva Two talks. She stressed that during her conversations with both the United States and with Russia she have said that more than ever “we need to find a way to stop this violence for all time and we need to find a way that is going to bring peace and security back to the people.”
Moreover, Ashton condemned the chemical attack in Syria and informed journalists that many states “are considering very carefully the implications of this attack.” However, she concluded that “the most important thing in the end is we have to find a political solution to this and quickly.”
Despite the comments by Ashton regarding the importance of the Geneva talks, the Syrian National Coalition (Syrian rebels), announced that there will be no Geneva talks after the chemical attack on a rebel controlled Damascus suburb last Wednesday. On 26 August, coalition Secretary General Badr Jamous told Reuters in Istanbul. “We refused to speak about Geneva after what's happened. We must punish this dictator, Bashar the Chemist we call him, and then we can discuss Geneva.”
In the meantime, Guardian reported that the UK gathers warplanes and military hardware in Britain’s Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus. Two commercial pilots who regularly fly from Larnaca, Cyprus, claim to have spotted C-130 transport planes from their own aircraft and small formations of possibly European fighter jets from their radar screens, according to the British daily. Besides the UK, Washington asked from Greece to provide two military bases in order to facilitate future US airforce and navy operations in Syria.
Today, Tehran warned the US and the rest of the countries not to intervene in Syria as this will bring horrific consequences for the region. Reuters quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi as saying. “These complications and consequences will not be restricted to Syria. It will engulf the whole region.”
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