In a phone conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that further interference by the U.S. and its allies would lead to chaos in world affairs. The two also agreed that the western strikes damaged chances of reaching a resolution in the seven-year Syrian Civil War, likely meaning U.S. troops will remain there for the foreseeable future.
“Vladimir Putin, in particular, stressed that if such actions committed in violation of the U.N. Charter continue, then it will inevitably lead to chaos in international relations,” the Kremlin statement said.
The news comes days after the United States, France and Great Britain launched 105 missiles at Syria with the goal of crippling the country’s chemical weapons capabilities. The strikes were in response to an alleged chemical weapon attack by President Bashar Al- Assad on his own people. The chemical weapons attack left dozens of civilians dead and countless more injured, prompting he United States’ response.
Nicki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday morning to announce that the U.S. would be imposing economic sanctions that would target companies that deal with equipment similar to the equipment used in President Assad’s chemical weapon attack.
In responding to questions about whether the ultimate goal of missile strikes was to topple the Assad regime, the White House said, “The U.S. mission has not changed – the president has been clear that he wants U.S. forces to come home as quickly as possible.”
“We are determined to completely crush ISIS and create the conditions that will prevent its return,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. “In addition we expect our regional allies and partners to take greater responsibility both militarily and financially for securing the region.”
Evgeny Serebrennikov, deputy head of the defense committee of Russia’s upper house of parliament, said of the threat of sanctions by the United States that Russia was prepared for them and that in the end they would do more damage to the U.S and Europe.
The leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, also criticized the Western Attacks. “The American (military) knows well that going towards a wide confrontation and a big operation against the regime and the army and the allied forces in Syria could not end, and any such confrontation would inflame the entire region,” he said.
Officials from the OPCW, a worldwide chemical weapons watchdog, meet with Syrian Deputy Foreign Prime Minister, Faisal Mekdad over the weekend. Russia openly condemned Western countries for not waiting for the results of the OPCW’s investigation before launching an attack.
The United States, France and Great Britain circulated a draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council that would create an independent inquiry into the responsibility for the Douma chemical weapons attack. The resolution would allow for the United Nations to use OPCW findings for evidence of whether chemical weapons were used. It is not known when the measure will be voted on.
Photo by the Kremlin