By Abdulnasser Jabara
MUNICH, Feb 14 (KUNA) -- The Syrian crisis and refugees, in addition to Russia's tense relations with West have topped agenda of 2016 Munich Security Conference, which kicked off on February 12th with participation of over 30 leaders and governments, and 70 foreign and defense ministers.
On the war in Syria, accusations and counter-accusations were exchanged between the Russian delegation, headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and Western delegations, particularly the US, headed by Secretary of State John Kerry, showing their huge differences in the ongoing war in that country.
Medvedev blamed, during his speech at the conference, the West for the war in Syria, explaining that Damascus would have remained safe if it was not for the Western interferences and insistence on the removal of President Bashar Al-Assad as a condition for peace and stability in Syria.
He also denied his country's targeting the civilians in Syria, and demanded the Syrian opposition to hold direct talks with the Syrian regime. In return, the US Secretary of State replied to Medvedev by accusing Moscow of bombing the moderate Syrian opposition specifically, demanding Russia to stop its attacks.
Differences in points of view were also apparent between the Russian and US sides when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov doubted the Munich agreement on ceasefire in Syria and delivery of aid to civilians.
The West aims through this agreement to stop Russia's bombing the so-called Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria, Lavrov told the conference, expressing his suspicion over the success of the Munich agreement, particularly the ceasefire within a week.
Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told the conference that IS cannot be defeated without the removal of President Al-Assad from the Syrian authority, confirming that this objective will be achieved eventually.
"We work on making a political change in Syria that is based on removing a man who is responsible for killing around 300,000 people, displacement of 12 million people, and destroying an entire country," Al-Jubeir said, adding that Al-Assad's acts have attracted most radicals and terrorists to the region.
For his part, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier considered MSC 2016 as an opportunity for regional powers and Russia to observe the current reality in Syria and whether they decide to implement the peace plan in accordance with the Geneva Talks.
John Kerry described, in his speech at the conference, the war in Syria as the gravest humanitarian crisis affecting Europe since World War II, as innocent people, mostly women and children, are either trapped inside Syria without access to medicine and food, or they have been forced to flee.
"The flood of desperate migrants has now spread well beyond the Middle East. As we know, 50 percent of the people now knocking on the door of Europe," Kerry said in his speech, posted on MSC 2016 website.
"In Europe, you know better than anybody how the staggering humanitarian crisis is affecting the life, the daily life, of politics and of the social fabric of Europe; unprecedented challenges. And with characteristic resilience, I'm proud to say and grateful for the fact that Europe is stepping up to meet these challenges. Chancellor Merkel and other leaders have demonstrated remarkable courage," he added. (end) anj.ams.ma