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U.S. military attacks change situation around Syria

7 April 2017 12:41 (UTC+04:00)
U.S. military attacks change situation around Syria

By Kamila Aliyeva

Washington's recent strike at the airfield in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria may have a negative impact on the ongoing uneasy talks in Astana and Geneva and undermine all international efforts aimed at finding a political solution to the six-year bloody conflict in Syria.

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that he gave instructions to strike at the airfield of the Syrian Air Force, from where, according to him, allegedly, an attack with the use of chemical weapons against civilians was carried out.

The strike is the first direct military action the U.S. has taken against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's six-year civil war and represents a substantial escalation of the U.S. military campaign in the region.

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

Trump's decision marked a big shift in his position on whether the U.S. should take military action against the Syria’s government regime.

"There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council,” he said adding that “years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behavior have failed dramatically."

Russians were present at the base the U.S. struck, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. Tillerson confirmed that the U.S. military contacted their Russian counterparts about the attack ahead, in accordance with deconfliction policies between the U.S. and Russia over military activities in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin regards the attack of the United States on objects in Syria as aggression against a sovereign state, Dmitry Peskov, the presidential press secretary told reporters, TASS reported.

"President Putin sees the American attacks on Syria as aggression against a sovereign state and violation of the norms of international law, and moreover, under a far-fetched pretext," Peskov said.

Russian president considers the U.S. attack on Syria to be an attempt to divert attention from the numerous civilian casualties during operations in Iraq, according to the Kremlin spokesman.

Putin believes that the U.S. strike on Syria is causing significant damage to U.S.-Russia relations, while it also hinders effective counteraction to terrorism, Peskov said.

"And most importantly, as Putin believes, this step does not bring us closer to the ultimate goal in the fight against international terrorism, but rather evolves a serious obstacle to the creation of an international coalition to combat it and effectively counter this ‘world evil’, which incidentally U.S. President Donald Trump has proclaimed as one of the main tasks during his election campaign," Peskov added.

The international community has already reacted to the latest events. Thus, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that the U.S. attack on the base in Syria is a warning for the Syrian government. He also noted that he was informed about operation. Iran and Russia should understand that it is pointless to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to Ayrault. At the same time, Foreign Minister said that Paris does not seek a confrontation with Moscow or Tehran.

Turkey in its turn also gave positive assessment of the strike as Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmush stated that this operation will make a significant contribution to the settlement of the crisis in Syria.

U.S. close ally, Israel expressed its full support to the U.S. decision to strike at the Syrian airbase, according to the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. In turn, the President of Israel Reuven Rivlin described the attack on the airbase in Syria as a "justified and adequate response" to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the province of Idlib.

On April 4, the National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces of Syria reported about 200 wounded and 80 victims of chemical weapons attack in Khan-Sheikhun city of Idlib province. The oppositionists blamed government troops of Syria for the attack. The command of the Syrian army rejected accusations in its address and laid the blame on the militants and their patrons.

The UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have already taken up the investigation of the incident, but so far they have not published any conclusions about possible perpetrators of the incident.

As Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem stated on Thursday, Syrian government troops have never used or intend to use chemical weapons against civilians and against terrorists.

The stocks of chemical weapons were successfully exported from Syria. In January 2016 the OPCW announced the complete elimination of the country's chemical industry.

In 2013, the organization received the Nobel Peace Prize for chemical disarmament of Syria.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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