Macron congratulates French military for 'perfectly conducted' strike on Syria
President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with the television channel BFMTV on April 15 that the French military "perfectly conducted" its recent operation in Syria.
"Three chemical weapon production points were our [intended targets]; we successfully completed our objectives on the military side," said Macron.
"First of all, I want to thank our soldiers and our army. The operation was conducted perfectly," the French president stressed.
When asked whether he still plans to attend a previously scheduled visit to the Russian Federation in May, given that Russia supports the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, Macron responded in the affirmative. The Kremlin reported that the French leader had been invited to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in October 2017.
Several French armed forces weapons joined the British and US aviation and naval fleets to participate in the missile strikes against targets in Syria; French contributions included five Dassault Rafale aircraft, one D-653 Languedoc frigate, four Mirage 2000-5 multipurpose fighters, two E-3 F aircraft and six airplanes, as well as six KC-135 F aerial refueling tankers. At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry said that they did not notice French participation in the operation.
In total, the aviation and navy of the United States, Britain and France fired more than 100 missiles at facilities where chemical weapons were stored, developed and produced in Syria. The attack was planned in response to reports about the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s troops at the beginning of April in the city of the Dhouma. This attack culminated in the conclusion of an agreement between militant opposition groups and the government. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that the strike was mostly intercepted by the Syrian air defense missiles, but the Pentagon announced that it has no data on even a single interception. Russian anti-aircraft missile systems did not counter the missile strike.