Western countries hit Syria, although neither Russian military experts, nor local residents confirmed fact of chemical attack in the city of Douma, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated.
Putin has vehemently condemned the US-led missile strikes against Syria, which "aggravate humanitarian catatrophe, inflict suffering on civilian population and connive at terrorism."
A group of Western countries "cynically disregarded" the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) probe into an alleged chemical incident in the Syrian city of Douma and undertook military action even before the investigation is completed, according to the Russian president.
Putin added that Russian military experts had not found any traces of chlorine or any other chemicals at the site of a supposed incident, as well as "not a single local resident confirmed a chemical attack."
The Russian President called the attack against Syria "act of aggression" against the country which is combating terrorism on its soil, adding that Russian servicemen help legitimate government to fight terrorist threat in the country.
"Russia is convening the urgent session of the UN Security Council to discuss aggressive actions of the United States and its allies," Putin said, pointing out that the strikes had been carried out in violation of norms and principles of the international law and posed a breach of sovereignty of an independent state.
Putin stressed that escalation in Syria has destructive impact on the entire system of international relations.
Earlier in the day, the US alongside with the United Kingdom and France, launched strikes on a number of targets in Syria in response to the alleged chemical attack in the Damascus' suburb of Douma, which they blamed on the Syrian government. Damascus has rejected all the allegations, noting that all chemical stockpiles were destroyed, which was confirmed by the OPCW. No evidence of Damascus' involvement in the reported chemical incident was presented, with a probe due to start on April 14.
The US and its allies struck civil and military facilities in Syria, violating the UN Charter and international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, responding to the American-French-British intervention in Syria.
Washington launched “an aggression against a sovereign state which is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism,” the statement from the president said. Putin stressed that the multi-national strikes were not sanctioned by the UN Security Council, and were carried out “in violation of the UN Charter and principles of international law.”
What's more, the current escalation of the Syrian crisis has “a devastating impact on the whole system of international relations.”Yet, history will set things straight as “it has already found Washington responsible for massacres in Yugoslavia. In fact, by using force, Washington is only prompting a new wave of asylum-seekers from Syria and the whole region, according to the Russian leader.
Meanwhile, Russia is calling an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the aggressive actions of the US and its allies, the statement concluded.
Washington and its allies unleashed the bombardment in the early hours of Saturday in retaliation for the alleged chemical attack by the Assad government in the town of Douma, 10 kilometers from Damascus, last week. The strikes were conducted before a team of investigators from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was due to reach Douma to determine whether the attack had indeed taken place.
Syrian air defense systems have intercepted the majority of cruise missiles and air-surface missiles from the allies, the Russian Defense Ministry said earlier, adding that none of its own air defense units were involved in repelling the attack. According to the latest data from the Russian MoD, Syria intercepted at least 71 cruise missiles out of the 103 launched by the allies on Saturday.
Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei harshly criticized the airstrikes on Syrian soil, branding the leaders of the UK, US, and France “criminals.” He added that the attack will not result in any “benefits,” recalling the US-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump ordered to "launch precision strikes on Syria" in response to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, described by Moscow and Damascus as a false flag. The attack was joined by British and French air forces.
More than 100 cruise and air-to-surface missiles were launched at "civilian and military facilities" in Syria on April 14 in line with US President Donald Trump's order.
The US warships Porter, Cook и Higgins carried out the attack from the Red Sea, while the French and UK fighters Mirage and Tornado, respectively, interacted with the US bombers B-1 over the Mediterranean Sea.
Military sources have told Sputnik Arabic that the strikes on Syria had been conducted from a French base in the United Arab Emirates, British bases in Jordan and Cyprus, as well as the US' Incirlik Airbase in Turkey. The attacks were launched on research centers in the administrative area of Barzeh and the village of Jamraya in the capital [Damascus] suburbs as well as the Jebel el Mania district west of Damascus. According to the source, the strikes on the western part of the Homs province have been fully repelled and that the missiles had not caused any damage.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Syrian defense forces managed to intercept 71 cruise missile out of 103, including all that had been fired at Dumayr military airport located 40 kilometers (24 miles) north-east of Damascus.
The ministry explained that Syria repelled the Western attack by air defense complexes made in the USSR over 30 years ago, including the S-125 and S-200 air defense systems, as well as Buk and Kvadrat.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry has denounced the joint US, British and French strikes as a "brutal, barbaric aggression," saying that the attack "aims at hindering the OPCW [Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons] mission's work and preempting its results."
The ministry stressed that "this aggression will only lead to inflaming tensions in the world and threatens international security."
Also see:
No comments:
Post a Comment