Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Friday blamed Russia for Syria’s links to chemical weapons, condemning Moscow for breaking an agreement to dispose of Syria’s stock of deadly gas.
On CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” Friday night, Blumenthal said Russia “clearly” failed to uphold its end of a bargain made between Russian President Vladimir Putin and former US President Barack Obama in 2013 to oversee the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile.
“Obama reached an agreement with Russia, Russia failed to hold up their end of the agreement,” he said.
Blumenthal, from Connecticut, went on to blame Russia for Syria’s possession of the deadly sarin gas that was suspected to be used in this week’s attack on Syrian civilians.
“I think there’s mounting evidence that they were complicit one way or the other. The Russians knew about it and they should be held accountable,” he said. “Russia is testing us around the world through the violation of the [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces] treaty.”
The INF treaty dates back to 1987 and was an agreement made between the US and the former Soviet Union under President Ronald Reagan.
Blumenthal added that mistakenly trusting Russia was a lesson to be learned from — “not in Syria, but around the world.”