Putin: Russia might let U.N. OK strike against Syria

NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia President Vladimir Putin warned the West against taking one-sided action in Syria but also said Russia "doesn't exclude" supporting a U.N. resolution on punitive military strikes if it is proven that Damascus used poison gas on its own people.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press and Russia's state Channel 1 television, Putin said Moscow has provided some components of the S-300 air defense missile system to Syria but has frozen further shipments. He suggested that Russia may sell the potent missile systems elsewhere if Western nations attack Syria without U.N. Security Council backing.

The interview Tuesday night at Putin's country residence outside the Russian capital was the only one he granted prior to the summit of G-20 nations in St. Petersburg, which opens Thursday.

The summit was supposed to concentrate on the global economy but now looks likely to be dominated by the international crisis over allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in the country's civil war.

Putin said he felt sorry that President Obama canceled a one-on-one meeting in Moscow that was supposed to have happened before the summit. But he expressed hope the two would have serious discussions about Syria and other issues in St. Petersburg.

"President Obama hasn't been elected by the American people in order to be pleasant to Russia. And your humble servant hasn't been elected by the people of Russia to be pleasant to someone either," he said of their relationship.

"We work, we argue about some issues. We are human. Sometimes one of us gets vexed. But I would like to repeat once again that global mutual interests form a good basis for finding a joint solution to our problems," Putin said.

He also denied that Russia has anti-gay policies -- an issue that has the Edward Snowden affair, Russia's treatment of its opposition and the diminishing scope in Russia for civil society groups that receive funding from the West.

Putin said it was "ludicrous" that the government of President Bashar Assad -- a staunch ally of Russia -- would use chemical weapons at a time when it was holding sway against the rebels.

"From our viewpoint, it seems absolutely absurd that the armed forces, the regular armed forces, which are on the offensive today and in some areas have encircled the so-called rebels and are finishing them off, that in these conditions they would start using forbidden chemical weapons while realizing quite well that it could serve as a pretext for applying sanctions against them, including the use of force," he said.

The Obama administration says 1,429 people died in the Aug. 21 attack in a Damascus suburb. Casualty estimates by other groups are far lower, and Assad's government blames the episode on rebels trying to overthrow him. A U.N. inspection team is awaiting lab results on tissue and soil samples it collected while in Syria before completing a report.

"If there are data that the chemical weapons have been used, and used specifically by the regular army, this evidence should be submitted to the U.N. Security Council," added Putin, a former officer in the Soviet KGB. "And it ought to be convincing. It shouldn't be based on some rumors and information obtained by special services through some kind of eavesdropping, some conversations and things like that."

He noted that even in the U.S., "There are experts who believe that the evidence presented by the administration doesn't look convincing, and they don't exclude the possibility that the opposition conducted a premeditated provocative action trying to give their sponsors a pretext for military intervention."

He compared the evidence presented by Washington to false data used by the Bush administration about weapons of mass destruction to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"All these arguments turned out to be untenable, but they were used to launch a military action, which many in the U.S. called a mistake. Did we forget about that?" Putin said.

He said he "doesn't exclude" backing the use of force against Syria at the United Nations if there is objective evidence proving that Assad's regime used chemical weapons against its people. But he strongly warned Washington against launching military action without U.N. approval, saying it would represent an aggression.

Putin reinforced his demand that before taking action, Mr. Obama needed approval from the U.N. Security Council. Russia can veto resolutions in the council and has protected Syria from punitive actions there before.

Asked what kind of evidence on chemical weapons use would convince Russia, Putin said it "should be a deep and specific probe containing evidence that would be obvious and prove beyond doubt who did it and what means were used."

Putin said it was "too early" to talk about what Russia would do if the U.S. attacked Syria.

"We have our ideas about what we will do and how we will do it in case the situation develops toward the use of force or otherwise," he said. "We have our plans."

View the original article here

Obama in Stockholm before heading to G20 summit in Russia

Updated 5:10 a.m. ET

STOCKHOLM President Obama is seeking to use a 24-hour visit to this Swedish capital to show a softer side of American diplomacy even as the world's gaze remains fixed anxiously on Syria.

He intends to focus in the Nordic nation on climate change, trade and technology, a trio of issues on which there is broad consensus with European allies. The topics are a marked departure from the thorny, pressing matters he's facing back home on national security and the economy. He also plans to pay homage to a Holocaust-era hero whose name is commemorated on street signs from Paris to Tel Aviv.

The president arrived Wednesday morning in Stockholm after an overnight flight from Washington that CBS News correspondent Major Garrett said featured some early turbulence. In Washington, lawmakers are weighing whether to approve Mr. Mr. Obama's request for a military strike against Syria. A day later, the president was scheduled to travel to St. Petersburg, Russia, to meet with foreign leaders at the Group of 20 economic summit.

Greeting Mr. Mr. Obama on a mild, sunny morning at the Stockholm-Arlanda International Airport were Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and leaders of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's center-right coalition government.

Along Mr. Obama's motorcade route form the airport to a hotel, crowds of people lined the streets, some waving small American flags.

Mr. Obama's trip to Sweden will mark the first bilateral visit by a sitting U.S. president to the northern European nation. While in Stockholm, Mr. Obama will meet with Reinfeldt and King Carl XVI Gustav and dine with Nordic leaders from Norway, Iceland, Finland and Denmark. He'll also stop at Sweden's premier technical university to call attention to Sweden's goal to phase out fossil fuels by 2050.

The White House hastily arranged the Stockholm visit after Mr. Obama, incensed when Russia granted asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, scrapped a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The cancellation created a two-day scheduling void when Mr. Obama was expecting to be overseas but had nowhere to go. The White House added Sweden to his itinerary.

Administration officials previewing Mr. Obama's trip offered little in the way of a specific rationale for the visit, other than to say that the country had extended him a written invitation some time ago. They added that Nordic nations are important partners in development, global security and promotion of democracy.

Many of Mr. Obama's global priorities -- like energy, global trade and science training -- parallel his second-term domestic goals as he seeks to ready the U.S. workforce for a higher-tech economy, increase demand abroad for American products and tackle climate change. But those priorities have at times been overshadowed by global outrage over massive U.S. surveillance programs revealed by Snowden, and by Mr. Obama's efforts to persuade nations to take a tougher tack against Syria.

A sobering moment was expected Wednesday afternoon when he honors the late Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited for saving at least 20,000 Jews during World War II before being arrested by Soviet forces in 1945 and then mysteriously disappearing. Wallenberg's family planned to present a letter to Mr. Obama asking for help in pressing Russia to shed light on Wallenberg's fate.

Amid tight security, protesters were already gathering in the streets of Stockholm, including a small group from Amnesty International that held a demonstration outside the royal palace to demand that Mr. Obama close Guantanamo Bay prison.

Thousands of armed police are deployed on city streets, many roads and parks are closed in the downtown area, concrete barriers and steel fences have sprung up in many locations near where Mr. Obama will stay.

View the original article here

Obama in Stockholm before heading to G20 summit in Russia

Updated 5:10 a.m. ET

STOCKHOLM President Obama is seeking to use a 24-hour visit to this Swedish capital to show a softer side of American diplomacy even as the world's gaze remains fixed anxiously on Syria.

He intends to focus in the Nordic nation on climate change, trade and technology, a trio of issues on which there is broad consensus with European allies. The topics are a marked departure from the thorny, pressing matters he's facing back home on national security and the economy. He also plans to pay homage to a Holocaust-era hero whose name is commemorated on street signs from Paris to Tel Aviv.

The president arrived Wednesday morning in Stockholm after an overnight flight from Washington that CBS News correspondent Major Garrett said featured some early turbulence. In Washington, lawmakers are weighing whether to approve Mr. Mr. Obama's request for a military strike against Syria. A day later, the president was scheduled to travel to St. Petersburg, Russia, to meet with foreign leaders at the Group of 20 economic summit.

Greeting Mr. Mr. Obama on a mild, sunny morning at the Stockholm-Arlanda International Airport were Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and leaders of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's center-right coalition government.

Along Mr. Obama's motorcade route form the airport to a hotel, crowds of people lined the streets, some waving small American flags.

Mr. Obama's trip to Sweden will mark the first bilateral visit by a sitting U.S. president to the northern European nation. While in Stockholm, Mr. Obama will meet with Reinfeldt and King Carl XVI Gustav and dine with Nordic leaders from Norway, Iceland, Finland and Denmark. He'll also stop at Sweden's premier technical university to call attention to Sweden's goal to phase out fossil fuels by 2050.

The White House hastily arranged the Stockholm visit after Mr. Obama, incensed when Russia granted asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, scrapped a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The cancellation created a two-day scheduling void when Mr. Obama was expecting to be overseas but had nowhere to go. The White House added Sweden to his itinerary.

Administration officials previewing Mr. Obama's trip offered little in the way of a specific rationale for the visit, other than to say that the country had extended him a written invitation some time ago. They added that Nordic nations are important partners in development, global security and promotion of democracy.

Many of Mr. Obama's global priorities -- like energy, global trade and science training -- parallel his second-term domestic goals as he seeks to ready the U.S. workforce for a higher-tech economy, increase demand abroad for American products and tackle climate change. But those priorities have at times been overshadowed by global outrage over massive U.S. surveillance programs revealed by Snowden, and by Mr. Obama's efforts to persuade nations to take a tougher tack against Syria.

A sobering moment was expected Wednesday afternoon when he honors the late Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited for saving at least 20,000 Jews during World War II before being arrested by Soviet forces in 1945 and then mysteriously disappearing. Wallenberg's family planned to present a letter to Mr. Obama asking for help in pressing Russia to shed light on Wallenberg's fate.

Amid tight security, protesters were already gathering in the streets of Stockholm, including a small group from Amnesty International that held a demonstration outside the royal palace to demand that Mr. Obama close Guantanamo Bay prison.

Thousands of armed police are deployed on city streets, many roads and parks are closed in the downtown area, concrete barriers and steel fences have sprung up in many locations near where Mr. Obama will stay.

View the original article here

Putin: Russia might let U.N. OK strike against Syria

NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia President Vladimir Putin warned the West against taking one-sided action in Syria but also said Russia "doesn't exclude" supporting a U.N. resolution on punitive military strikes if it is proven that Damascus used poison gas on its own people.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press and Russia's state Channel 1 television, Putin said Moscow has provided some components of the S-300 air defense missile system to Syria but has frozen further shipments. He suggested that Russia may sell the potent missile systems elsewhere if Western nations attack Syria without U.N. Security Council backing.

The interview Tuesday night at Putin's country residence outside the Russian capital was the only one he granted prior to the summit of G-20 nations in St. Petersburg, which opens Thursday.

The summit was supposed to concentrate on the global economy but now looks likely to be dominated by the international crisis over allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in the country's civil war.

Putin said he felt sorry that President Obama canceled a one-on-one meeting in Moscow that was supposed to have happened before the summit. But he expressed hope the two would have serious discussions about Syria and other issues in St. Petersburg.

"President Obama hasn't been elected by the American people in order to be pleasant to Russia. And your humble servant hasn't been elected by the people of Russia to be pleasant to someone either," he said of their relationship.

"We work, we argue about some issues. We are human. Sometimes one of us gets vexed. But I would like to repeat once again that global mutual interests form a good basis for finding a joint solution to our problems," Putin said.

He also denied that Russia has anti-gay policies -- an issue that has the Edward Snowden affair, Russia's treatment of its opposition and the diminishing scope in Russia for civil society groups that receive funding from the West.

Putin said it was "ludicrous" that the government of President Bashar Assad -- a staunch ally of Russia -- would use chemical weapons at a time when it was holding sway against the rebels.

"From our viewpoint, it seems absolutely absurd that the armed forces, the regular armed forces, which are on the offensive today and in some areas have encircled the so-called rebels and are finishing them off, that in these conditions they would start using forbidden chemical weapons while realizing quite well that it could serve as a pretext for applying sanctions against them, including the use of force," he said.

The Obama administration says 1,429 people died in the Aug. 21 attack in a Damascus suburb. Casualty estimates by other groups are far lower, and Assad's government blames the episode on rebels trying to overthrow him. A U.N. inspection team is awaiting lab results on tissue and soil samples it collected while in Syria before completing a report.

"If there are data that the chemical weapons have been used, and used specifically by the regular army, this evidence should be submitted to the U.N. Security Council," added Putin, a former officer in the Soviet KGB. "And it ought to be convincing. It shouldn't be based on some rumors and information obtained by special services through some kind of eavesdropping, some conversations and things like that."

He noted that even in the U.S., "There are experts who believe that the evidence presented by the administration doesn't look convincing, and they don't exclude the possibility that the opposition conducted a premeditated provocative action trying to give their sponsors a pretext for military intervention."

He compared the evidence presented by Washington to false data used by the Bush administration about weapons of mass destruction to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"All these arguments turned out to be untenable, but they were used to launch a military action, which many in the U.S. called a mistake. Did we forget about that?" Putin said.

He said he "doesn't exclude" backing the use of force against Syria at the United Nations if there is objective evidence proving that Assad's regime used chemical weapons against its people. But he strongly warned Washington against launching military action without U.N. approval, saying it would represent an aggression.

Putin reinforced his demand that before taking action, Mr. Obama needed approval from the U.N. Security Council. Russia can veto resolutions in the council and has protected Syria from punitive actions there before.

Asked what kind of evidence on chemical weapons use would convince Russia, Putin said it "should be a deep and specific probe containing evidence that would be obvious and prove beyond doubt who did it and what means were used."

Putin said it was "too early" to talk about what Russia would do if the U.S. attacked Syria.

"We have our ideas about what we will do and how we will do it in case the situation develops toward the use of force or otherwise," he said. "We have our plans."

View the original article here

U.S., Russia said to up Naval presence in Gulf region

Updated 6:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON U.S. officials say the Navy is beefing up its presence in the Persian Gulf region, increasing the number of aircraft carriers from one to two.

The USS Harry S Truman has arrived in the Arabian Sea and was scheduled to take the place of the USS Nimitz, which was supposed to head home. The Navy has ordered the Nimitz, which is in the Indian Ocean, to stay for now.

Play Video

This, as the Russian news service Interfax is citing military sources as saying Moscow is dispatching an anti-submarine ship and a cruiser to the Mediterranean. Interfax says the moves are being made due to the "well-known situation" there -- referring to the Syria crisis. But a Russian government news service, Rianovosti, says the reassignments are part of a planned rotation and aren't linked with the situation in Syria.

In addition, Britain's defense ministry said in a statement Thursday that six Royal Air Force "interceptor fast jets are deploying this morning to Akrotiri in Cyprus. This is purely a prudent and precautionary measure to ensure the protection of UK interests and the defensce of our Sovereign Base Areas at a time of heightened tension in the wider region.

"This is a movement of defensive assets operating in an air-to-air role only," the statement continued. "They are not deploying to take part in any military action against Syria. The (prime minister) has made clear no decision has been taken on our response and the gGovernment has said that there will be a Commons vote before direct military involvement."

U.S. officials describe the Pentagon decision as prudent planning and say it doesn't suggest the carrier would play a role in any possible strikes in Syria. The officials were not authorized to discuss ship movements publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Play Video

The U.S. had kept two carriers in the region, but budget cuts in February forced officials to cut to one.

CBS News correspondent David Martin reports two submarines -- one American, one British -- are in the eastern Mediterranean along with four American destroyers and a fifth on the way -- all armed with cruise missiles. That's more than enough firepower for a strike Pentagon officials say would be limited to fewer than 50 targets.

Play Video

Each of the destroyers carries about 40 cruise missiles - a satellite-guided weapon that carries a 1,000-pound warhead, has a range of 1000 miles or more and is accurate to within about 15 feet.

Standard procedure would be for the ships to fire an opening salvo at night, wait for satellites to assess the damage and re-strike any targets that were not destroyed -- a process that could take a few days.

Any strike against Syria, Martin points out, would be designed to convince its dictator, President Bashar Assad, never to use chemical weapons again. But airstrikes never succeeded in changing the behavior of another Mideast dictator -- Iraq's Saddam Hussein -- until he was finally captured and hanged.

View the original article here

U.S., Russia said to up Naval presence in Gulf region

Updated 6:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON U.S. officials say the Navy is beefing up its presence in the Persian Gulf region, increasing the number of aircraft carriers from one to two.

The USS Harry S Truman has arrived in the Arabian Sea and was scheduled to take the place of the USS Nimitz, which was supposed to head home. The Navy has ordered the Nimitz, which is in the Indian Ocean, to stay for now.

Play Video

This, as the Russian news service Interfax is citing military sources as saying Moscow is dispatching an anti-submarine ship and a cruiser to the Mediterranean. Interfax says the moves are being made due to the "well-known situation" there -- referring to the Syria crisis. But a Russian government news service, Rianovosti, says the reassignments are part of a planned rotation and aren't linked with the situation in Syria.

In addition, Britain's defense ministry said in a statement Thursday that six Royal Air Force "interceptor fast jets are deploying this morning to Akrotiri in Cyprus. This is purely a prudent and precautionary measure to ensure the protection of UK interests and the defensce of our Sovereign Base Areas at a time of heightened tension in the wider region.

"This is a movement of defensive assets operating in an air-to-air role only," the statement continued. "They are not deploying to take part in any military action against Syria. The (prime minister) has made clear no decision has been taken on our response and the gGovernment has said that there will be a Commons vote before direct military involvement."

U.S. officials describe the Pentagon decision as prudent planning and say it doesn't suggest the carrier would play a role in any possible strikes in Syria. The officials were not authorized to discuss ship movements publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Play Video

The U.S. had kept two carriers in the region, but budget cuts in February forced officials to cut to one.

CBS News correspondent David Martin reports two submarines -- one American, one British -- are in the eastern Mediterranean along with four American destroyers and a fifth on the way -- all armed with cruise missiles. That's more than enough firepower for a strike Pentagon officials say would be limited to fewer than 50 targets.

Play Video

Each of the destroyers carries about 40 cruise missiles - a satellite-guided weapon that carries a 1,000-pound warhead, has a range of 1000 miles or more and is accurate to within about 15 feet.

Standard procedure would be for the ships to fire an opening salvo at night, wait for satellites to assess the damage and re-strike any targets that were not destroyed -- a process that could take a few days.

Any strike against Syria, Martin points out, would be designed to convince its dictator, President Bashar Assad, never to use chemical weapons again. But airstrikes never succeeded in changing the behavior of another Mideast dictator -- Iraq's Saddam Hussein -- until he was finally captured and hanged.

View the original article here

Source: U.S. postpones meeting with Russia about Syria

Updated 2:25 a.m.

WASHINGTON The U.S. has put off a meeting that had been scheduled for Wednesday in The Hague between senior diplomats from the United States and Russia as Washington mulls its response to what it says was a chemical weapons attack by the regime of President Bashar Assad, a senior State department official tells CBS News.

"Given our ongoing consultations about the appropriate response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria on August 21, we have decided to postpone Under Secretary (Wendy) Sherman and (U.S. Ambassador to Syria) Ambassador (Robert) Ford's meeting with a Russian delegation," the source said.

The meeting was to have taken up plans for an international peace conference aimed at ending Syria's civil war.

"We will work with our Russian counterparts to reschedule the meeting," the official continued. "As we've long made clear - and as the events of August 21 reinforce - it is imperative that we reach a comprehensive and durable political solution to the crisis in Syria. The United States remains fully invested in that process. We will continue working with Russia and other international partners to move towards a transition based on the framework laid out in the Geneva Communique."

Russia regrets the postponement, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Tuesday, according to the Reuters news service. Gatilov made clear on Twitter that the U.S. decided unilaterally to postpone the meeting, Reuters says.

Earlier on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said there is "undeniable" evidence of a large-scale chemical weapons attack in Syria, with intelligence strongly pointing to Assad's government and, "This international norm cannot be violated without consequences." Kerry called the use of such weapons a "moral obscenity."

Kerry's tough language marked the clearest justification yet for U.S. military action in Syria, which, if President Barack Obama decides to do so, most likely would involve sea-launched cruise missile attacks on Syrian military targets.

Speaking to reporters at the State Department, Kerry was harshly critical of chemical warfare.

26 Photos

"By any standard, it is inexcusable and - despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured - it is undeniable," said Kerry, the highest-ranking U.S. official to confirm the attack in the Damascus suburbs that activists say killed hundreds of people.

Mr. Obama was still deciding how to respond to the use of deadly gases, officials said. The White House said last year that type of warfare would cross a "red line." But the U.S., along with allies in Europe, appeared to be laying the groundwork for the most aggressive response since Syria's civil war began more than two years ago.

View the original article here

Source: U.S. postpones meeting with Russia about Syria

Updated 2:25 a.m.

WASHINGTON The U.S. has put off a meeting that had been scheduled for Wednesday in The Hague between senior diplomats from the United States and Russia as Washington mulls its response to what it says was a chemical weapons attack by the regime of President Bashar Assad, a senior State department official tells CBS News.

"Given our ongoing consultations about the appropriate response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria on August 21, we have decided to postpone Under Secretary (Wendy) Sherman and (U.S. Ambassador to Syria) Ambassador (Robert) Ford's meeting with a Russian delegation," the source said.

The meeting was to have taken up plans for an international peace conference aimed at ending Syria's civil war.

"We will work with our Russian counterparts to reschedule the meeting," the official continued. "As we've long made clear - and as the events of August 21 reinforce - it is imperative that we reach a comprehensive and durable political solution to the crisis in Syria. The United States remains fully invested in that process. We will continue working with Russia and other international partners to move towards a transition based on the framework laid out in the Geneva Communique."

Russia regrets the postponement, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Tuesday, according to the Reuters news service. Gatilov made clear on Twitter that the U.S. decided unilaterally to postpone the meeting, Reuters says.

Earlier on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said there is "undeniable" evidence of a large-scale chemical weapons attack in Syria, with intelligence strongly pointing to Assad's government and, "This international norm cannot be violated without consequences." Kerry called the use of such weapons a "moral obscenity."

Kerry's tough language marked the clearest justification yet for U.S. military action in Syria, which, if President Barack Obama decides to do so, most likely would involve sea-launched cruise missile attacks on Syrian military targets.

Speaking to reporters at the State Department, Kerry was harshly critical of chemical warfare.

26 Photos

"By any standard, it is inexcusable and - despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured - it is undeniable," said Kerry, the highest-ranking U.S. official to confirm the attack in the Damascus suburbs that activists say killed hundreds of people.

Mr. Obama was still deciding how to respond to the use of deadly gases, officials said. The White House said last year that type of warfare would cross a "red line." But the U.S., along with allies in Europe, appeared to be laying the groundwork for the most aggressive response since Syria's civil war began more than two years ago.

View the original article here