Moscow suspends US-Russian agreement on flight safety over Syria, sends warships to Mediterranean
Following the US missile strikes on Syrian airbase, Russia said it is suspending the memorandum on the prevention of incidents and on ensuring the safety of flights over Syria that it had with the US.
The statement published on the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the suspension of this cooperation comes in response to the American missile strikes on Syrian air base in Idlib.
“The Russian side suspends the memorandum on the prevention of incidents and on ensuring the safety of flights over Syria which was signed with the US,” the statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reads.
The Kremlin said that they believe that the strikes were prepared way ahead and that the situation with the recent chemical attack has been used as a pretext for the strikes.
The Kremlin called the American airstrikes on the Syrian air base “a blatant act of aggression” against Syria.
Moscow called on the UN Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to discuss the current situation.
“Without making any effort to consider the situation, the US chose to use its force against the country which is fighting against the terrorism,” the statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues.
According to the Kremlin, the Syrian Army does not have any chemical weapons, which allegedly was confirmed by independent experts.
As reported by Tass, the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles will be deployed to the Tartus naval base in Syria.
Bosphorus Observer, a web site tracking the movement of ships through the Bosphorus, confirmed that frigate Admiral Grigorovich which recently returned from its Syrian deployment, is now on its way back to the Mediterranean.