The former Finnish President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari shook the world of diplomacy this morning. He told the Guardian that Russia suggested more than three years ago that Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad could make way as part of a peace deal. This is supposedly what the US and its satellites have been clamoring for. Of course, with Washington, words and actions frequently don't rhyme.
Rather than leaping at the alleged sign of Russian flexibility, Ahtisaari says that the US, Britain and France “were convinced that Assad would be thrown out of office in a few weeks so there was no need to do anything.” The Finn claims that Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, made the offer in February 2012.
“He said three things: One – we should not give arms to the opposition. Two – we should get a dialogue going between the opposition and Assad straight away. Three – we should find an elegant way for Assad to step aside,” is Ahitsaari’s version of what Churkin allegedly told him in New York. For his part, the Russian emissary has declined to comment. At the same time, Russia’s ambassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko, has tweeted his insistence that “Russia is not in the regime change business.” However, he stopped short of contradicting Ahtisaari.
