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Ayotte Statement on U.S. Suspension of Talks with Russia

Statement

Date: Oct. 3, 2016
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Foreign Affairs

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte today released the following statement regarding news that the State Department has suspended bilateral contact with Russia over Syria.

"The Obama administration's reflexive tendency to act deferentially toward Russia, launch grand diplomatic overtures not backed up by facts on the ground, and employ U.S. military force belatedly and incrementally have only made a complex situation in Syria worse. Consequently, Putin has seized the initiative and gained leverage in the Middle East that Moscow has not enjoyed in decades," said Senator Ayotte. "Harshly worded warnings from the State Department or the suspension of talks-divorced from tangible changes on the ground-will not impress Putin or end Russia's support for Assad. The sustainable defeat of ISIS in Syria requires an inclusive government that respects, rather than slaughters, its own people, but Russian and Iranian support for Assad is one of the greatest obstacles to such an outcome."


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