Russia calls on US to reveal series of targets to attack in Syria
(Baonghean.vn) - Russia has called on the US to reveal a list of targets it will attack in response to what it claims is an impending chemical attack by the Syrian government.
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| Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia. Photo: PressTV |
Speaking at a September 6 meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the use of chemical weapons in the years-long war in Syria, Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said Washington and its military allies, Britain and France, needed to reveal where they were about to strike.
“Reveal the list of targets that the Pentagon has reportedly selected for possible airstrikes by three countries,” he said.
“If you believe that those sites are related to the storage of chemical weapons, then show some respect for international law and pass this information on to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),” he added.
Syria and Russia are preparing to launch an offensive against the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major stronghold of anti-government terrorists in the Arab country.
The White House has warned that the US and its allies will not hesitate to respond “swiftly and forcefully” if Syrian armed forces use chemical weapons in the next attack.
Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting that Russia and other members of the council should be “deeply ashamed” for siding with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the conflict.
“So we want to take the opportunity to remind Assad and his Russian and Iranian partners: you don’t want to bet against the possibility of the United States responding again,” she said, referring to Washington’s response to previous allegations of chemical attacks in Syria.
Iran and Russia have both supported Assad in purging large areas of Syria of terrorists.
Meanwhile, the US has repeatedly accused Syria of carrying out chemical attacks against its own people.
Jim Jeffrey, who was appointed last month as special adviser on Syria to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, reiterated those comments earlier in the day, saying there was “a lot of evidence” that Damascus was preparing chemical weapons for an attack.
The information comes as Russia and Syria warn of suspicious activity in terrorist-controlled areas suggesting anti-government militants are preparing to launch a chemical attack in Idlib and then blame it on the Syrian army.
Last year, when more than 80 people were killed in an alleged April 4 gas attack on Khan Shaykhun, the US fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea at Shayrat airport in Syria's Homs province.
The attacks continued this year, when on April 14, the US, UK and France launched a series of missile strikes on Syria over a suspected chemical attack in the town of Douma, near the capital Damascus.
Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari told the Security Council that three Western countries are among the main backers of terrorist groups in Syria.
This support, he argued, has hindered the political process in Syria for the past seven years.
