US attack on Syria: Russia ‘retaliates’ by suspending MoU on flight safety

In aftermath of US strike on Syria, Russia has suspended the memorandum preventing incidents and ensuring flights safety during operations in Syria.

The memorandum was signed with the United States in the wake of the US strike on the Syrian airbase, the Russian foreign ministry reported on Friday.

“The Russian side suspends the memorandum on the prevention of incidents and on ensuring the safety of flights in the course of operations in Syria, concluded with the United States,” the statement read.

“We urge the United Nations Security Council to meet in urgent session to discuss the current situation.”

According to TASS, Russia news agency, the United States last night carried out an attack against Syrian government troops using the chemical incident in Idlib province as a pretext.

“It is obvious that the strike with US cruise missiles had been prepared beforehand,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

“It is clear to any specialist that the decision to deal the strikes was made in Washington before the events in Idlib, which were used as a pretext for a show of muscle.

“It is beyond doubt that the US military strike is an attempt to distract attention from the situation in Mosul, where as a result of actions by the US coalition hundreds of civilians died and the humanitarian disaster is growing.

“Without taking the trouble to look into the situation the United States opted for the show of muscle, for military resistance to a country that fights against international terrorism.

“This is not the first time that the United States takes such a reckless approach, which merely exacerbates the world’s problems and poses a threat to international security.

“Russian foreign ministry has more than once declared its readiness for cooperation in tackling burning problems of today, including the struggle against international terrorism.

“But we will never agree to illegitimate actions against the legal Syrian authorities, who have for a long time been involved in irreconcilable war on international terrorism,” the statement read.

The US President launched 59 missiles at the Syrian base from which this week’s gruesome chemical attack is thought to have originated.

The Syrian military is reporting at least six people have been killed and several more injured.

Russia has argued that the death of civilians in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday resulted from Syrian forces hitting a rebel chemical arsenal there.

Peskov said the US has previously ignored the use of chemical weapons by Syrian rebels and that the Syrian government has destroyed its chemical weapons stockpiles under international control.

Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign affairs committee in the Kremlin-controlled upper house, said the prospective US-Russian anti-terror coalition has been “put to rest without even being born”.

He called the attack that almost destroyed Shayrat military base near Homs, in the country’s west, “a pity”, suggesting Trump had been pressured into the act by the Pentagon.

“Russian cruise missiles strike the terrorists, US missiles strike Syrian government forces who are spearheading the fight against the terrorists,” he added.