Russia's US ambassador warns of consequences for Syria strikes

WASHINGTON: Russia’s ambassador to the United States on Friday warned that there would be consequences for the US-led military strikes on Syria, adding that it was not acceptable to insult Russia’s president.

“A pre-designed scenario is being implemented,” Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said on Twitter. “Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences.”

“Insulting the President of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible,” he added. “The US – the possessor of the biggest arsenal of chemical weapons – has no moral right to blame other countries.”

US President Donald Trump announced the military action from the White House late on Friday. As he spoke, explosions rocked Damascus. Trump said he was prepared to sustain the response until Assad’s government stopped its use of chemical weapons.

British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron said the UK and France had joined in the attack.

Syria’s seven-year-old civil war has pitted the United States and its allies against Russia, which itself intervened in the war in 2015 to back Assad.

In a televised address from the White House, Trump said he had ordered US armed forces to launch “precision strikes” associated with Assad’s chemical weapons capabilities.

“The combined American, British, and French response to these atrocities will integrate all instruments of our national power — military, economic, and diplomatic. We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents,” Trump said.