UK More Flexible, EU: Russian Intervention in Syria Game-Changer

Local Editor

EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini stressed Monday that the Russian intervention in Syria was a very high-risk "game-changer" as the international community seeks a political solution to the war.

"It is for sure a game-changer, it has some very worrying elements... it has to be coordinated, otherwise it risks being extremely dangerous, not only from a political point of view but also military," Mogherini said.

She said Russian military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had to be directed against the terrorist "ISIL" group.

Mogherini refused to be drawn one way or the other as she arrived for an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg dominated by the crisis.

She said the EU would put all its energy to support UN efforts to broker a peace deal and "this is a process which has to have all the relevant actors around the table."

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stated that there could be some flexibility on working with al-Assad.

"We can be flexible about the manner ... the timing of his departure, but if we try to work with al-Assad, we will only drive the opposition into the arms of "ISIL", the very opposite of the outcome that we want," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that Russia's military actions in Syria were meant to "stabilize the legitimate authorities and create conditions for finding a political compromise."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team