Phone discussion between Putin and Rouhani: New Western Syria strikes would spark chaos

The Times of India
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 20:20 UTC

© AP Photo

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting in Moscow on April 14, 2018

New Western air strikes in Syria would provoke "chaos" in international relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Sunday.

Speaking to Rouhani by telephone the day after US-led strikes on suspected chemical weapons facilities, Putin said "if such actions, carried out in violation of the United Nations Charter, are repeated, that would inevitably provoke chaos in international relations," according to a statement from the Kremlin.

The two leaders "found that this illegal action seriously damaged the prospects of a political settlement in Syria," the statement said.

The United States, France and Britain on Saturday launched strikes against Bashar al-Assad's government a week after an alleged chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma, just east of the capital Damascus.

Putin denounced on Saturday "with the utmost firmness" the strikes which he described as "an act of aggression against a sovereign state which is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism".

Comment: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the "aggressive" US move to carry out military strikes against Syria reveals that Washington has direct ties with terrorists.

"The Americans showed such a reaction when they felt that the terrorists were dislodged from an important region like Eastern Ghouta," Rouhani said in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, a day after US-led strikes on Syria.
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Rouhani told Putin that the joint military strikes against Syria were an "aggressive measure" aimed at boosting the defeated terrorists' morale.

He warned that if aggression and blatant violation of international regulations were to become easy and cost-free, "we would witness new instability in the regional and international system."

"The attack by the US and its allies against Syria showed that we are facing new problems and issues in the way of a final fight against terrorism in Syria and that we must have more consultation and cooperation with each other," the Iranian president told his Russian counterpart.

See also: Putin: Actions similar to coalition strikes in Syria will lead to chaos in international relations