WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday warned that Syria may be just weeks away from a renewed civil war of “epic proportions,” urging international support for the country’s transitional leadership.
“It is our assessment that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they’re facing, are maybe weeks, not many months, away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up,” Rubio told a US Senate hearing.
The statement comes following an announcement by US President Donald Trump last week on a visit to Saudi Arabia to lift sanctions on Syria. Trump, during the visit, also met with Syria’s President, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
“They are dealing with deep internal distrust in that country, because Assad deliberately pitted these groups against each other,” Rubio said.
Rubio, who also met with Syria’s foreign minister in Turkiye on Thursday, attributed the renewed violence in Syria to the legacy of President Bashar al-Assad.
Trump offers no concessions to Russia
Marco Rubio also told the US Senate that President Donald Trump has offered no concessions to Russia while rejecting criticism over the administration’s Ukraine policy.
“He hasn’t gotten a single concession,” Rubio said of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Rubio was responding to Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Shaheen countered by arguing that President Trump, since returning to the White House, has given Russian President Vladimir Putin greater incentive to seize territory.
Rubio said that Trump, who spoke again to Putin by telephone on Monday, does not want to impose fresh sanctions on Russia — a step taken on Tuesday by the European Union.
“If, in fact, it is clear that the Russians are not interested in a peace deal and they just want to keep fighting a war, it may very well come to that point,” Rubio said.
He said President Trump believes that imposing sanctions at this moment could cause the Russians to walk away from negotiations.
