Russia accuses US of violating international law over Syria air strikes

Vladimir Putin: Russia has accused the US of violating international law
REUTERS
Mark Chandler7 April 2017

Russia has accused the US of violating international law and seriously hurting relations between Washington and Moscow following air strikes against Syria.

A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian leader, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, regarded the US action as "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law".

He said the strikes had been launched on a "made-up pretext" and as a cynical attempt to distract the world from civilian deaths in Iraq.

Russia said it did not believe that Syria possessed chemical weapons and that the US move would inevitably create a serious obstacle to creating an international coalition to fight terrorism.

The US fired 59 cruise missiles at targets in Syria
AP

The row came after the US launched dozens of cruise missiles into central Syria, striking an Assad government-controlled air base.

America says the base is where Syrian military initiated a deadly chemical attack that killed at least 72 civilians, including children, this week.

Syrian state TV called the attack, announced by US president Donald Trump, an "aggression" that led to "losses" and Talal Barazi, the governor of Syria's Homs province, said later that the attack killed some Syrians.

The UK has backed the military action by the United States
AP

About 60 US Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat air base south east of Homs - a small installation with two runways, where aircraft often take off to bomb targets in northern and central Syria.

The US missiles struck at 3.45am on Friday, Syria time (1.45am UK time), and targeted the base's airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, American officials said.

Britain backed its American allies over the strikes, saying they were an appropriate response to the chemical attack.

Earlier, Alexei Pushkov, head of information policy commission in the upper house of the Russian parliament, said that if Mr Trump launched a military action in Syria it would put him in "the same league with Bush and Obama".

Russian deputy envoy to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov, said Russia had warned the US to "think about what military actions have led to in Iraq, Libya and other countries".

President Trump formally announces the military action in Syria in retaliation for the attack on civilians
AP

But, in an emotional statement, Mr Trump said the military action had been in the US national interest.

He said: "Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many.

"Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack.

"Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.

"It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.”

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