World press on the Syrian civil war and Russia's role in the crisis (August 23, 2013)

The international community, which allowed the Syrian crisis to lead to an actual civil war, is responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the country, an article by Edward Lucas published by The Times claims.

According to the author, Western democracies are partly responsible for the escalation of the conflict, but it's Russia that is guilty more than others. Russia prevented Western countries from pressuring Assad and sabotaged all the resolutions of the UN Security Council, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov taking the office of "Mister No" once occupied by Andrey Gromyko, the author writes.

Without Russia's support Assad would be unable to rely on plain force and pay no attention to the international community.

The author underlines that Russia's stance on the Syrian crisis is not a separate issue, but reflects the country's kleptocratic, paranoid and deeply anti-Western regime.

It's a good thing that US President Barack Obama cancelled his visit with Vladimir Putin. It means that the time when the West was indulging Russia has passed. It would also be a good idea to abandon the G8 project, as Russia has no right to be a member of the developed democracies club, Lucas believes.