Michael Fallon blasts ‘aggressive Russia’ over decision to become ‘competitor’ to the West
The Defence Secretary's comments come after airstrike on a UN aid convoy in Aleppo that left dozens of civilians dead
RUSSIA must be held accountable for its war crimes, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said today.
Sir Michael said “a much more aggressive Russia” had made the decision to be a “competitor” to the West, as he accused it of murder and war crimes in Syria.
It follows an airstrike on a UN aid convoy in Aleppo that left dozens of civilians dead.
Defence officials believe Russian planes dropped the bombs that destroyed the convoy killing at least 20 people last month.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said Russia could be guilty of war crimes in Syria, if it was found to be involved in the bombing raids against civilians.
Sir Michael told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on the BBC he backed Mr Johnson’s suggestion Russia had been involved in war crimes.
He said: “It looks as if they did target that particular convoy and if that can be established then yes, they ought to be held accountable.
“The regime is bombing its own people, its own children, its own women, and it’s being aided and abetted by Russia.
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“There’s increasing evidence that Russia is party to the slaughter that’s now going on.”
He added: “We hoped Russia would become a partner to us in the West, but clearly Russia has decided to be a competitor.
“They said that right at the beginning they were going to come in and help us fight Daesh (ISIS), they haven’t done that.
“They’ve been helping (Syrian president Bashar) Assad bomb his own people, they’ve been flexing their muscles in the Black Sea, they’ve been militarising in Crimea, we’ve seen this pressure on the Baltic states, and they’ve tried to interfere in elections — they even tried to interfere on the Dutch referendum on the Ukraine association agreement.”