| Information |  | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
| ||
| Information | | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
| ||
07Apr17
Russia condemns U.S. missile strike on Syria, suspends key air agreement
Russia on Friday condemned the U.S. missile strike against Syrian government forces late Thursday, and said it was pulling out of an agreement to minimize the risk of in-flight incidents between U.S. and Russian aircraft operating over Syria.
Russia's Foreign Ministry also called for an immediate meeting of the United Nations Security Council after President Vladimir Putin declared the strike a violation of international law.
The 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired at a Syrian military air base constituted the first direct American assault against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which Moscow has supported military since 2015.
"President Putin considers the American strikes against Syria an aggression against a sovereign government in violations of the norms of international law, and under a far-fetched pretext," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday. "This step by Washington is causing significant damage to Russian-American relations, which are already in a deplorable state."
The strike, which the Trump administration authorized in retaliation for a chemical attack that killed scores of civilians this week, creates the possibility of a direct confrontation with Russia, which has forces on the ground and advanced air-defense systems capable of shooting down U.S. aircraft and missiles.
Russian troops are intermingled with Syrian forces on the battlefield and at bases, and any strike on a Syrian military target could also produce Russian military casualties.
There have been no reports of Russian casualties in Friday's strike. Russian legislator Dmitry Sablin, deputy chairman of a Russian veterans' organization, told the Interfax news agency that no Russians had been injured in the attack.
A Pentagon spokesman, Captain Jeff Davis, said in a statement that "U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield."
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, on Friday dismissed the U.S. assertion that the attacks were a response to Assad's use of chemical weapons, saying that the strike was a show of force that had been planned long in advance.
Putin's spokesman said the Russian president considered the attack and attempt to distract attention from the heavy civilian casualties caused by the U.S.-backed offensive to capture Mosul, Iraq from the Islamic State group.
"This step is not taking us any closer to the final goal in the fight against international terrorism, but, on the contrary, it is creating a serious obstacle to the establishment of an international coalition to combat it and efficiently counter this global evil," Peskov said.
Russia committed to finding and destroying Assad's chemical arsenal under a 2013 agreement, but the attack this week mean that "clearly, Russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on that commitment," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told a briefing late Thursday.
"So either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been incompetent in its ability to deliver on that agreement," Tillerson said.
A United Nations mission in 2014 confirmed that Assad's chemical arsenal had been eliminated.
"Syria does not have chemical arms stockpiles," Peskov said.
Until now, U.S. aerial attacks in Syria have been largely focused on fighting the Islamic State, a common enemy of Russia, the United States and Assad's regime.
Other Russian officials issued grave condemnations of the U.S. strike.
"This is fraught with the possibility of a clash between Russia and the USA, and the consequences might could be the most severe, including military conflict," Mikhail Yemelyanov, a member of the lower house of the Russian parliament, told the Interfax news agency. "Here you can't rule out anything."
"This will have negative consequences for normalization of the situation in Syria," said Viktor Ozerov, the head of the defense and security committee of the upper house of the Russian parliament.
He said the attacks would give the wrong signal to Assad's opposition, and undermine the peace process.
Peskov had told the Associated Press on Thursday that Russia's support for Assad was not unconditional, but insisted that Russia wants to see a full investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria before the United Nations takes any action.
Putin carefully orchestrated a peace process that brought together Turkey and Iran – regional powers that have backed opposing sides in the civil war. At the same time, the chemical weapons attack suggests that Assad and his Iranian allies had no intention of being party to a power-sharing agreement, suggesting that Putin's deal is all but dead.
Russian-American relations are at their lowest point in decade, over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and its proxy war in eastern Ukraine, as well as allegations that the Kremlin interfered in the U.S. presidential election.
Following the election of President Trump, Russian leaders expressed measured optimism for an improvement in relations, but Peskov and others have said that so far there has been minimal dialogue. Trump did call Putin on Monday to express condolences after an explosion Russian investigators have called a terrorist attack killed 14 and wounded dozens more in a St. Petersburg subway train.
[Source: By David Filipov, The Washington Post, 07Apr17]
Donate
Radio Nizkor
 | This document has been published on 07Apr17 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |