German Defense Ministry: The United States tried to ensure that Russian soldiers were not harmed during the missile strikes on Syria
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen commented on the U.S. missile strikes on the Syrian airfield. According to DW, the German minister, unlike many Western politicians who declared the deterioration of Russian-American relations after the strike, regards the incident as "an effective solution to the conflict situation."
"The Russian side was warned in advance about the attack. The air defense was not activated; therefore, they believed the American reports that the strike would be clearly constrained," the German Defense Minister stressed.
She added that U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis called her before the attack and assured that it would be carried out in an "isolated area without a civilian population", and that the Americans had "paid special attention to ensure that Russian soldiers did not suffer."
On April 7, the United States launched a rocket attack on the Shayrat airbase in Homs province in the west of Syria. 59 Tomahawk missiles were fired. The U.S. authorities had earlier accused Syrian government troops of committing a chemical attack on April 4 against civilians in the province of Idlib.