Tillerson Says Russia Has 'Failed' in Syria

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday night that Russia has "failed" in its responsibility to deliver on a 2013 commitment to secure Syria's chemical weapons.

Tillerson briefed reporters shortly after the U.S. launched cruise missiles against a Syrian air base in retaliation for a gruesome chemical weapons attack on Tuesday. The secretary said Russia has either been complicit or "simply incompetent" in failing to deliver on its end of the agreement.

“Clearly Russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on that commitment,” Tillerson said.

“Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement,” the secretary added.

The agreement was struck after a 2013 chemical weapons attack. President Barack Obama threatened air strikes at the time, but ultimately pulled back on military action.

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s "role in the future is uncertain, clearly, and with the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people,” Tillerson said.

“There is no doubt in our minds, and the information we have supports that Syria, the Syria regime under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad are responsible for this attack,” Tillerson said.

He added that the process to remove Assad would require “an international community effort.”

“Both to first defeat ISIS within Syria, to stabilize the Syrian country, to avoid further civil war, and then to work collectively with our partners around the world through a political process that would lead to Assad leaving,” Tillerson explained.

He warned Russian officials, with whom he’ll be meeting next week, to reconsider their allegiance to the Syrian strongman.

“It is very important that the Russian government consider carefully their continued support for the Assad regime,” he said.