Vladimir Putin to meet his Security Council on Syria strikes

Moscow: The Kremlin on Friday said Russian President Vladimir Putin will chair a meeting of his Security Council to discuss the US strikes on Syria.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t say if Russia could use its military assets in Syria to protect Syrian facilities in case of new US strikes. He also wouldn’t speculate on whether Russia’s move to cut a hotline with the US military in Syria could provoke collisions in the crowded skies over Syria.

Asked if Russia sees Syria as a military ally, Peskov answered positively. He argued Friday that the US attack has “de facto served interests of the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations.

President Vladimir Putin believes that US cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base broke international law and have seriously hurt US-Russia relations, Russian news agencies cited the Kremlin as saying on Friday.

ALSO READ: Syria army says six dead in US strike

The Russian leader, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, regarded the US action as “aggression against a sovereign nation” on a “made-up pretext” and as a cynical attempt to distract the world from civilian deaths in Iraq, Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, was cited as saying.

1:45 pm

Top European Union officials are supporting the US missile strikes on military targets in Syria as a means of deterring further chemical weapons attacks by Damascus.

EU Council President Donald Tusk said in a tweet Friday that the “US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria.”

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement that he “understands efforts to deter further attacks.” He said “there is a clear distinction between airstrikes on military targets and the use of chemical weapons against civilians.”

1:35 pm

Syrian opposition activists say warplanes have carried out their first airstrike since a US missile attack damaged a major air base in the central province of Homs.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the airstrike struck the northern edge of the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun where a chemical attack killed more than 80 people earlier this week.

The Observatory and Turkey-based activist Ahmad al-Ahmad said Friday’s airstrike caused material damaged but no casualties. They said it was not immediately clear if the warplanes were Syrian or Russian.

1:25 pm

The Russian military says it will help Syria beef up its air defences after the US strike on a Syrian air base.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday that a “complex of measures” to strengthen Syrian air defences will be done shortly to help “protect the most sensitive Syrian infrastructure facilities.”

Konashenkov said “the combat efficiency of the US strike was very low,” adding that only 23 of the 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles reached the Shayrat air base in the province of Homs.

He said it destroyed six MiG-23 fighter jets of the Syrian air force which were under repairs, but didn’t damage other Syrian warplanes at the base. Konashenkov added that the base’s runway also has been left undamaged.