Moscow slammed the US strike on a Syrian airbase Friday 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 .
US President Donald Trump ordered a military strike on a Syrian air base at 0040GMT , in retaliation for what he said was a “ very barbaric attack” Tuesday that is suspected to have contained a nerve agent .
Moscow has been flying a bombing campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar al - Assad’s forces since September 2015 and on Wednesday said it would continue to back the regime .
The Russian foreign ministry announced the suspension of a memorandum signed with the US in October 2015 which set up a hotline to avoid clashes between their air forces in Syrian airspace as they carried out separate bombing campaigns .
“ We call upon the UN Security Council to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the situation ,” the ministry said in a statement , calling the strike “ thoughtless .”
Russia had sought to deflect blame from Assad over the incident , claiming Syrian jets struck a rebel arms depot housing “ toxic substances” and denying that the regime has access to any chemical weapons.
“ The Syrian army does not have any chemical weapon stockpiles ,” the Kremlin statement said, accusing Washington of trying to “ divert attention of the international community from the many civilian casualties in Iraq. ”
“ The fact of destruction of all chemical weapon stockpiles of the Syrian armed forces was recorded and confirmed by the (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ).”
“ This step by Washington inflicts considerable damage to US - Russia relations , which are already in a lamentable state , ” the Kremlin said.
A White House official said 59 precision - guided Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat airfield , from where the US believes the attack was launched .
The Syrian army said that six people were killed and serious damage caused by the strike .
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