Russian envoy warns of ‘consequences’ after US-led strikes on Syria

Syria ally Russia has warned of “consequences” following the launch of US-led strikes against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack.

“Again, we are being threatened,” Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has said in a statement.

“We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences. All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London and Paris.”

“Insulting the President of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible,” added the envoy, after President Donald Trump directly called out his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over his support for the Assad regime.

Chance of a peaceful future

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that Western strikes on Syria came as the country had “a chance of a peaceful future.”

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook: “those behind all this claim moral leadership in the world and declare they are exceptional. You need to be really exceptional to shell Syria’s capital at the moment when it had gained a chance of a peaceful future.”