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Off-the-Cuff Diplomacy: Dissecting Washington's New Approach to Syria

© REUTERS / Robert S. Price/Courtesy U.S. NavyU.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea which U.S. Defense Department said was a part of cruise missile strike against Syria on April 7, 2017.
U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea which U.S. Defense Department said was a part of cruise missile strike against Syria on April 7, 2017. - Sputnik International
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It seems that the United States and the EU countries are already unable to do anything about the peace process in Syria except make impromptu decisions on the matter, experts told Sputnik.

A still image taken from a video released on the internet by Islamic State-affiliated Amaq News Agency, on April 18, 2017, purports to show the aftermath, said to be in al-Bukamal town, in Deir al-Zor province, after air strikes thought to have been directed by planes from a U.S.-led military coalition, Syria - Sputnik International
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In separate interviews with Sputnik, experts specifically drew attention to the White House's recent impromptu decisions on the Syrian issue, something that they said indicates the inability of Washington and the EU countries to do anything about the peaceful resolution of the Syrian issue. 

Their remarks came after the Russian Foreign Ministry lashed out at the idea of Syrian President Bashar Assad's resignation, again put forward by Washington, as well as the US missile attack on the Syrian air base.

In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Global News on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed the US missile strikes as "unacceptable," saying that they violated international law and made no military or political sense.

"They brought the situation nowhere," Zakharova pointed out.

Commenting on efforts to overthrow Assad made by Washington and the EU countries, she said that it is "not a way out, it is a dead end."

During his visit to Russia earlier this month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for his part, outlined the basic principles of President Donald Trump's unfinished plan for the Syrian settlement, which stipulates President Assad's resignation.

Moscow has repeatedly said that Assad's fate should only be resolved by Syrian citizens.

Speaking to Sputnik, Russian political scientist Andrey Suzdaltsev of the Moscow-based Higher School of Economics said that "the West, in the person of the US Administration, does not have any positive scenario for resolving the problem pertaining to the terrorist group Daesh."

"The West is simply powerless to do anything about it and they constantly change their stance on the matter. In March, the US said that they adhere to the position that Assad should remain the head of Syria. And just two or three weeks later, they again decided to adhere to former US President Barack Obama's Assad-must-resign mantra," Suzdaltsev said.

Aftermath of the US missile attack on the Syrian military airbase - Sputnik International
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On the whole, Washington and Brussels took a very strange position on Syria, according to him.

He said that "currently the West remains in the grip of a very strange ideology: let the bad guys and bloody bad guys fight among themselves while we will sit on the sidelines."

"But they forget that it's foolish to hope that the fire that was sparked will not spread further. It's like setting your own house on fire and then trying to fry eggs using the flame. In other words, they don't heed far-reaching consequences which may fuel tensions  in Saudi Arabia and Iran, where the lives of millions of people may be under threat, Suzdaltsev added.

He was echoed by independent security expert Igor Nikolaychuk, who attributed Washington's impromptu decisions on Syria to the fact that the State Department and other foreign policy posts in the new US Administration have yet to be fully staffed.

"Certainly, the State Department is paralyzed and there is no one to talk to. Even the successor of former US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has yet to be appointed. That's why in Syria, we are dealing with Americans' impromptu decisions, which cannot be predicted. So it remains unclear how we should cooperate with a similar diplomatic system," Nikolaychuk said.

He also said that even though many countries currently share Russia's position on the US missile attack against Syria, they will avoid making their point of view public.

"Now no one will harshly criticize this attack. blow. This can be explained by the fact that "the elections are still in progress" in the US, namely, the transit of power was suspended indefinitely. Therefore, no one wants to aggravate relations. But the fact remains that many countries support Maria Zakharova's position," Nikolaychuk concluded.

Photo dated 12 March 1985 of late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad acknowledging the crowd after beinb elected to a third seven-year term in front of parliament in Damascus - Sputnik International
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On April 7, at least five people were killed and seven more injured after the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. 

US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria's Idlib, which Washington blames on the Syrian government. Russia described the attack as aggression against a sovereign state.

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