Russia was warned by President Donald Trump on Wednesday of imminent military action in Syria over a suspected poison gas attack, saying that missiles “will be coming.”
Trump’s statement was a response to a Russian warning on Tuesday that any U.S. missiles fired at Syria would be shot down and the launch sites targeted.
“Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’,” Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.
“You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” Trump also said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry responded that “smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, not legal government.” Damascus and Moscow consider the rebels fighting Assad as terrorists.
Meanwhile, both the Syrian government and Russia said that the reports of a poison gas attack on the Syrian town of Douma are bogus.
However, the rebel group that was holed up in Douma – Jaish al-Islam agreed to withdraw from the town after the chemical assault. This was a big victory for Assad, who has now dismantled the rebellion in the eastern Ghouta region near Damascus.
According to Reuters, Moscow’s threat to shoot down U.S. missiles came from the Russian ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, who said he was referring to a statement by President Vladimir Putin and the Russian armed forces chief of staff.
Zasypkin also stated that any hostilities with Washington should be avoided and Moscow was ready for negotiations, Reuters wrote.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reported on Wednesday that 43 people have been killed in Saturday’s chemical assault on the town of Douma from “symptoms consistent with exposure to highly toxic chemicals,” and more than 500 had been treated.
Moscow said on Wednesday that all sides involved in Syria must avoid doing anything that could further destabilize an already fragile situation in the Middle East.
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