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US accuses Russia of 'grandstanding' over deadly Syria air strikes US accuses Russia of 'grandstanding' over deadly Syria air strikes
(35 minutes later)
The United States has accused Russia of grandstanding by calling a UN security council meeting to discuss coalition air strikes in Syria, which Moscow said killed dozens of Syrian soldiers and could endanger a truce deal. Russia accused the US of bombing Syrian army positions on Saturday and warned the incident put a “very big question mark” over the future of a precarious ceasefire agreed by Washington and Moscow last week.
The 15-member council met for an hour on Saturday evening after Russia and a war monitoring group said coalition jets bombed a Syrian army position near Deir al-Zor airport. The US acknowledged that an intended air strike against Isis positions could have hit Syrian soldiers in error and said it would carry out an investigation.
US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said Washington was investigating the air strikes and “if we determine that we did indeed strike Syrian military personnel that was not our intention and we of course regret the loss of life”. But the US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, described Russia’s call for an emergency closed-door security council meeting over the incident a “stunt” that was “uniquely cynical and hypocritical” as Russia had for years blocked UN punitive measures against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad for the barrel bombing of civilian populations in rebel-held cities.
She said Russia’s decision to call a council meeting was “cynical and hypocritical” as Moscow had never expressed such outrage at the killing of civilians by Syrian government forces during more than five years of conflict. After the security council meeting went ahead, the Russian envoy to the UN, Vitaly Churkin declared that in his decades as a diplomat he had “never seen such an extraordinary display of American heavy-handedness as we are witnessing today”.
“Russia really needs to stop the cheap point scoring and the grandstanding and the stunts and focus on what matters, which is implementation of something we negotiated in good faith with them,” Power told reporters. The envoy said the timing of the US airstrike was “frankly suspicious” as it came two days before the US and Russia were supposed, under the ceasefire agreement concluded on Friday last week, to begin joint planning for air operations against Isis and the former Nusra front, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, deemed to be terrorist groups by both states.
The deal reached last Saturday aims to put Syria’s peace process back on track. It included a fragile nationwide truce, improved humanitarian aid access and joint military targeting of banned Islamist groups. “We are still gathering information at this time but we have been able to confirm that earlier today, the United States struck what we believe to be an ISIL target,” Power said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State.
When asked if Saturday’s air strikes spelled the end of the deal, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: “This is a very big question mark.“ ”We halted the attack when we were informed by Russia that it was possible that we were striking Syrian regime military personnel and vehicles.”
“I would be very interested to see how Washington is going to react. If what Ambassador Power has done today is any indication of their possible reaction then we are in serious trouble,” Churkin told reporters. Turning to Moscow’s decision to call an urgent security council meeting, Power said: “Even by Russia’s standards, tonight’s stunt, a stunt replete with moralism and grandstanding, is uniquely cynical and hypocritical.”
Churkin said it was a crucial time in the efforts to bring peace to Syria and the fight against terrorism. He said the United States could have waited until Moscow and Washington were to start joint military cooperation in two days instead of carrying out a “reckless” operation. She added “Since 2011, the Assad regime has been intentionally striking civilian targets with horrifying, predictable regularity ... And yet in the face of none of these atrocities has Russia expressed outrage, nor has it demanded investigations, nor has it ever called for a Saturday night emergency consultation in the Security Council.”
“Who is in charge in Washington? Is it the White House or the Pentagon? Because we have heard statements from the Pentagon which simply fly in the face of what we have heard from President Obama and Secretary Kerry,” he said. Churkin says that if Power’s actions were any indication of Washington’s possible reaction then the cease-fire agreement is “in serious trouble” but expressed hope the US would convince Moscow it was serious about finding a political solution in Syria and fighting terrorism.
Both parties to the Syrian conflict have accused each other of being responsible for aid deliveries being stuck far from Aleppo.
“All the permissions the Syrian government was supposed to give have been given for humanitarian supplies to reach people in need in various parts of Syria and that the humanitarian convoy to eastern Aleppo is supposed to leave tomorrow morning,” Churkin said.