Act of aggression, says Russia

Moscow slammed the US air strike on a Syrian airbase as “aggression against a sovereign state”, and suspended a bilateral agreement to help avoid clashes in the skies over the war-torn country.

“President Putin considers American strikes on Syria aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international norms, and under an invented pretext,” said the statement by the Kremlin press service posted on the official website.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the missile strikes were one step away from clashing with the Russian military, underscoring the risks in US President Donald Trump’s first major foray into the Syrian civil war.

Russia’s military said the US strike was ineffective but announced Syrian air defences would be strengthened to shield the country’s key infrastructure.

“To protect Syria’s most sensitive infrastructure, a complex of measures will be implemented in the near future to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces’ air defence system,” defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

In the biggest foreign policy decision of his presidency, Mr Trump ordered a step his predecessor Barack Obama never took: targeting the Syrian military. The US action catapulted Washington into confrontation with Russia, which has military advisers on the ground aiding its ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

President Vladimir Putin signalled he was ready to risk a clash with the US and abandon hopes for mending ties with the US under Mr Trump, rather than accept the humiliation of standing by while his ally is bombed.

The Kremlin accused Mr Trump of reneging on pledges to focus on fighting Islamic State jihadists and insisted the move would “inflict considerable damage on US-Russia relations, which are already in a lamentable state”.

The UN Security Council met on Friday in an emergency session following the US missile strikes, with France and Britain voicing support for Washington’s military response to a suspected chemical weapons attack.

“The US attacked the territory of sovereign Syria. We describe that attack as a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression,” deputy ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told the Security Council.

Meanwhile, in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun, the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack, residents still mourning their dead on Friday welcomed US strikes as a way to pressure Damascus.

“God bless Trump,” said Abu Ali, in his forties, hours after the US launched a barrage of cruise missiles at a Syrian government air base in the central Homs province. “God willing, these strikes will be a clear warning to (President) Bashar al-Assad, to tell him: Bashar, enough killing and injustice against these people.”

“We consider these strikes not only as a reaction, but a way to avenge the blood of the martyrs who fell here in Khan Sheikhun,” said Haj Kassar, a merchant in his fifties.

How the World Reacted
Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu said President Donald Trump “sent a strong and clear message today that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.” He said his country “fully supports President Trump’s decision” and that it “hopes that his message of resolve in the face of the Assad regime’s horrific actions will resonate not only in Damascus, but in Tehran, Pyongyang and elsewhere.”

Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the US air strike on an airbase of the Syrian regime but said it was not enough and more action was needed.
European Union
EU President Donald Tusk said in a tweet that the “US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria.” In a joint statement, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Assad bore “sole responsibility” for the US strike.

Britain
The UK government said it was informed in advance about the US missile strikes, and firmly supports the US action. PM Theresa May’s office called it “an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical attack.”

China
Beijing offered a nuanced reaction, saying it was “urgent” to avoid “further deterioration of the situation.”