AFP :
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “missiles will be coming” in response to an alleged chemical attack in Syria, defying Russian warnings against a strike.
Upping the stakes in an escalating confrontation with Moscow, Trump took to Twitter in the strongest assertion yet that he plans to take military action in Syria.
“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!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” Trump wrote.
Trump and other Western leaders have vowed a quick and forceful response to Saturday’s alleged gas attack, which rescue workers say killed more than 40 people in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma.
Efforts to find a diplomatic solution at the UN Security Council on Tuesday failed, with Washington and Moscow opposing each other’s rival motions to set up an international investigation into chemical weapons use.
Russia has meanwhile taken to stronger and stronger warnings.
“We would hope that all sides will avoid steps that in reality are not provoked by anything and that could destabilise the already fragile situation in the region,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“The situation is tense,” Peskov said, adding that Russia is calling for an “unprejudiced and objective investigation before making judgements” on the suspected use of chemical weapons.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also insisted that “smart rockets should be aimed at terrorists, rather than the legitimate government” of Syria.
Trump has said he plans to make the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and perhaps his Russian and Iranian backers, pay a “big” price for the latest alleged toxic gas atrocity in the war-wracked country.
The United States, Britain and France have argued the incident bears all the hallmarks of a strike ordered by the regime, which has been blamed for previous attacks by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “missiles will be coming” in response to an alleged chemical attack in Syria, defying Russian warnings against a strike.
Upping the stakes in an escalating confrontation with Moscow, Trump took to Twitter in the strongest assertion yet that he plans to take military action in Syria.
“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!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” Trump wrote.
Trump and other Western leaders have vowed a quick and forceful response to Saturday’s alleged gas attack, which rescue workers say killed more than 40 people in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma.
Efforts to find a diplomatic solution at the UN Security Council on Tuesday failed, with Washington and Moscow opposing each other’s rival motions to set up an international investigation into chemical weapons use.
Russia has meanwhile taken to stronger and stronger warnings.
“We would hope that all sides will avoid steps that in reality are not provoked by anything and that could destabilise the already fragile situation in the region,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“The situation is tense,” Peskov said, adding that Russia is calling for an “unprejudiced and objective investigation before making judgements” on the suspected use of chemical weapons.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also insisted that “smart rockets should be aimed at terrorists, rather than the legitimate government” of Syria.
Trump has said he plans to make the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and perhaps his Russian and Iranian backers, pay a “big” price for the latest alleged toxic gas atrocity in the war-wracked country.
The United States, Britain and France have argued the incident bears all the hallmarks of a strike ordered by the regime, which has been blamed for previous attacks by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
