Russia condemned the United States, the United Kingdom and France for their joint retaliation strikes in Syria less than a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin had denied responsibility for a deadly chemical attack on a town east of Damascus.
In a statement released early Saturday morning, Putin denounced the strikes as an “act of aggression” that would have a “destructive influence on the entire system of international relations.” The Kremlin also said it would call an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Russian officials on Twitter called the “treacherous and insane” strikes a “clear and present danger to world peace” and demanded accountability.
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the coordinated airstrikes in response to last weekend’s chemical attack that reportedly killed about 70 people in the town of Douma in eastern Ghouta. Syrian forces reportedly took control of the formerly rebel-held town this week.
Friday’s joint airstrikes hit three targets associated with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical weapon program, including a scientific research center in Damascus, chemical weapon storage facilities and a command post.
In an address to the American people on Friday, Trump called out Russia and Iran for supporting Assad’s regime.
After the strikes were launched, the Russian Embassy in Washington issued a warning to the U.S.
“Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences,” Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said in a statement.
“Insulting the president of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible,” Antonov added. “The U.S. ― the possessor of the biggest arsenal of chemical weapons ― has no moral right to blame other countries.”
Statement by the Ambassador Antonov on the strikes on #Syria:
A pre-designed scenario is being implemented. Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences.
All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London and Paris.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also accused the U.S. and its allies of attacking Syria at a time when there was a chance for peace.
“First the ‘Arab spring’ tested the Syrian people, then Islamic State, now smart American rockets. The capital of a sovereign government, trying for years to survive under terrorist aggression, has been attacked,” Zakharova wrote in a Facebook post.
“You have to be quite abnormal to attack Syria’s capital just at the moment when it had a chance for a peaceful future,” she added.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the strikes “crimes” in a speech cited by Iranian TV, according to Reuters.
The Syrian government has denied it used any chemical weapons in an attack, while Russia’s Foreign Ministry claims there is no evidence of a chemical attack in Douma.
On Monday, Russia warned that any military intervention from the U.S. against Russian allies in Syria would result in the “most serious consequences” and called news of last weekend’s chemical attacks “fabricated.”
Russia, the Syrian regime's top ally, reacted strongly to the air strikes launched by the United States and its allies on Damascus and Homs early Saturday, warning of "consequences."
The U.S., U.K. and France launched a series of strikes on three locations identified as critical to Syria's production of chemical weapons, including a scientific research center in Damascus, and a production facility and storage facility in Homs, according to U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford.
The Russian embassy in U.S. wasted no time in reacting to the strikes late Friday in the U.S., with Ambassador Anatoly Antonov saying on Twitter, "The worst apprehensions have come true. Our warnings have been left unheard."
"A pre-designed scenario is being implemented," the statement continued. "Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences."
Statement by the Ambassador Antonov on the strikes on #Syria:
A pre-designed scenario is being implemented. Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences.
All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London and Paris. pic.twitter.com/QEmWEffUzx— Russia in USA ???? (@RusEmbUSA) April 14, 2018
Russia has long been an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria serves as an important access point to the Mediterranean Sea for Russian ships and a hub for Russia in the Middle East. They have also supplied Assad with the military resources necessary to fight back against the rebels who nearly overthrew him in 2011.
President Donald Trump criticized Russia in his address to the country following the launch of missiles on Friday night.
"In 2013, President [Vladimir] Putin and his government promised the world that they would guarantee the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons," Trump said. "Assad's recent attack, and today's response, are the direct result of Russia's failure to keep that promise."
Putin responded to Saturday's attack by calling the strikes "an act of aggression against a sovereign state that is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism."
"The current escalation of the situation around Syria has a devastating impact on the whole system of international relations," Putin said. "History will put everything in its place, and it has already laid heavy responsibility on Washington for bloody reprisals against Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya."
Putin also called for an emergency meeting U.N. Security Council
No comments:
Post a Comment