President Vladimir Putin issued a statement today slamming the US airstrikes on Syria as ‘an illegal act of aggression’.
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the president believes the strikes were carried out “in violation of international law, and also under an invented pretext.”
Putin warned that the action ordered by President Trump will result in grave damage to bilateral relations between Washington and Moscow.
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The US fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase near Homs in the early hours inresponse to an alleged chemical weapons attack that they have accused the Syrian government of conducting.
In response to the US air strikes, Moscow is now suspending memorandum with US that prevented incidents and ensured flight safety in Syria.
21st Century Wire reports:
According Putin, and many foreign leaders, Trump’s sudden missile strikes on a Syrian air base is in sharp violation of international law, but also US law as well – as Trump ignored calls for getting Congressional approval, or at least an Authorization of Military Force (AMF).
Moscow also announced that it will now be pulling out of its ‘Deconfliction’ agreement with the US in Syria – a program originally designed to minimize the risk of in-flight incidents between U.S. and Russian aircraft operating over Syria.
“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.”
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 move has opened up Trump to charges of violating the US Constitution and may be used as additional fodder by his political opposition at home.
President Trump and the UK have both blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime for the alleged ‘chemical attack’ that struck the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib – an al Qaeda stronghold, supposedly killing at least 70 people, including women and children – according to al Qaeda linked NGO the White Helmets and ‘opposition’ media outlets embedded in the terrorist-held region of Idlib.
The US are claiming that sarin gas was used, but as yet there is no proof to suggest that this is even the case.
Planning for the attack on Syria is said to have begun on Wednesday by the Pentagon, and the Defense Department had numerous “off-the-shelf plans” from the Obama administration, including the very same cruise missile strikes on Syrian airfields.
