Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been butting heads with the US over Syria, said Wednesday that although rising tensions in a “chaotic world” have been causing anxiety, he hopes that “common sense will prevail.”
While Putin did not mention Donald Trump, his comments came just hours after the US president warned that “nice and new” missiles would be heading to Syria and that its ally Moscow should “get ready.”
Speaking to new ambassadors at the Kremlin, Putin said that “the state of world affairs cannot but cause anxiety. The situation in the world is becoming all the more chaotic.
“Nonetheless, we hope that common sense will prevail and international relations will go on a constructive course, that all the world’s systems will become more stable and predictable,” he continued
Trump had tweeted earlier that Russia shouldn’t be allied with a “Gas Killing Animal,” a reference to Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose regime is accused of killing dozens of people in a suspected chemical attack on rebel-held Douma over the weekend.
He also vowed that “smart” missiles “will be coming.”
Trump’s threats of retaliatory military action prompted a slew of Russian comments that warned that US strikes could trigger direct military clash between the two former Cold War adversaries.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, in a Facebook post Wednesday, wondered if the chemical weapons watchdog investigating the reports of the attack on Douma had been warned that US missiles would destroy “all evidence” of the attack.
Tass quoted Zakharova as saying, “Smart missiles must strike terrorists, not the legitimate government that has been fighting international terrorism on its territory for several years.
A top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also appeared to respond to Trump’s threats, telling state TV that Tehran would support Damascus against any “foreign aggression.”
“We will stand by Syria’s government against any foreign aggression … Iran backs Syria in its fight against America and the Zionist Regime (Israel),” Ali Akbar Velayati said.
Russian’s foreign ministry said that Washington was using the alleged chemical attack as a pretext to target Syria, and that the threats were hindering the government’s efforts to fight “terrorism.”
Addressing the possibility of a US strike, he added, “I want to hope that all countries will avoid steps which essentially haven’t been sparked by anything and which may destabilize the fragile situation in the region.”
No comments:
Post a Comment