Putin: No Evidence of Chemical Weapons Use by Syrian Troops

MOSCOW- The US violated the international law by launching an airstrike on a Syrian military airfield without providing any evidence of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the Mir TV channel, Itar Tass reported.

“How did NATO allies reacted? They have all been nodding like bobbleheads, without analyzing the events. Where is evidence of chemical weapons use by Syrian troops? There is none. Was there a breach of the international law? Yes, there was. This is an evident fact. Without an approval by the UN Security Council, an airstrike is carried out on a sovereign country. And, despite it being a clear violation of the international law, everyone agrees to it, accepts it and starts nodding (in approval) and expressing their support,” Putin said.

 Earlier, the Russian president compared the ongoing accusations about the use of chemical weapons in Syria with the 2003 events when US used chemical weapons in Iraq as a pretext to unleash a military campaign in the country.

Russia’s Faith in the US Has Waned Since Trump’s Inauguration

Russia’s trust in Washington has eroded rather than improved, especially at the military level, with Donald Trump at the helm of the United States, Putin told Mir TV.

“It is possible to say that [Russia’s] level of trust [in the US] at the working level, especially at the military level, hasn’t become better; it has, in fact, eroded,” Putin said, as quoted by Sputnik.

Nearly Half of 20,000 Foreign Fighters in Syria Hail From CIS

Nearly half of the approximately 20,000 foreign terrorists fighting in Syria hail from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),  Putin said.

He further estimated that around 5,000 fighters are from Central Asian states.

“These are mainly CSTO countries, by the way,” Putin stressed, underscoring the need to create a broad international anti-terrorist coalition

H.M