Georgia condones US airstrikes in Syria
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, April 10
Georgia’s Defense Minister Levan Izoria has made a statement over the recent airstrikes launched by the US in Syria, stressing it was “the right decision”.
“The missile strikes carried out by our strategic partners in Syria was a proportional and appropriate response targeted to destroy facilities where chemical weapons were stored. All the measures were carried out to avoid civilian casualties,” Izoria said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the US cruise missile strikes on a Syrian government military target, saying they broke international law and have seriously damaged US-Russia relations.
The Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, viewed the action taken by Donald Trump as an "act of aggression" against a sovereign state on a “made-up pretext” to distract the world from civilian deaths in Iraq.
He added that Russia did not believe Syria possessed chemical weapons and that the air strikes would inevitably create a serious obstacle to creating an international coalition to fight terrorism.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meanwhile said Moscow would demand an explanation from the US over the air strikes.
Russia has also promised to strengthen its ally Syria's anti-aircraft defences.
Russia is also closing down a hotline with the US designed to avoid collisions between their air forces over Syria, the BBC reported.
US officials say the base in Syria was used to launch a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians on last Tuesday.
In the first direct US military action against Syria's government, at least six people are reported to have been killed.
Idlib's opposition-run health authority says 89 people, including 33 children and 18 women, died in the suspected nerve gas attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun. Syria denies using nerve gas, the BBC reported.
