More Talk than Action at G-8 Summit’s Conclusion
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JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — The two-day G-8 Summit in Northern Ireland ended Tuesday with a whisper, not a bang.
In the final communiqué, the U.S. and its allies issued a general message on reviving the global economy saying, “Promoting growth and jobs is our top priority.”
However, President Obama and his counterparts disagree on Europe’s approach, which is through continued spending cuts, while the U.S. contends that stimulus measures are needed to get the continent out of its long recession.
There was also scant movement about how to handle the ongoing conflict in Syria, which turned out to be the dominant topic of discussion.
All agreed that a peace conference in Geneva being arranged by Washington and Moscow is the best course of action but the talks, which were supposed to have been underway by this time, might not occur until August or September.
Furthermore, the influence of Russian President Vladimir Putin was in evidence as there was nothing in the communiqué about getting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad out of the picture so that the country can move toward a transitional government.
Putin is at odds with the West and isn’t ready to abandon al-Assad, who remains intent on achieving a military victory over rebel forces after 27 months of war and more than 80,000 deaths.
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