Trump says missiles 'will be coming' to Syria, taunts Russia for vowing to block them
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned that missiles "will be coming" toward Syria in response to a suspected chemical attack and taunted Russia for vowing to shoot down any incoming strikes.
"Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!'" the president wrote on Twitter, referring to missile strokes. He also condemned Russia's backing of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)"Yo> shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!" Trump wrote.
Earlier this week, Trump said his administration was working on a response to the suspected chemical attack on Saturday, including military options.
The United States has been building a circumstantial case, based largely on videos and photographs, that a chemical attack by Syrian forces took place in the rebel-held enclave of Douma.
Syria and Russia, a main backer of Assad, have insisted no attack happened and that only the opposition groups they call "terrorists" possess chemical weapons.
Trump appeared to be referring to a comment from Russia's ambassador to Lebanon, who was quoted by a Lebanese news outlet on Tuesday saying that Russia would confront a U.S. strike on Syria by shooting down missiles and striking their launchpads.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked about the comment in his regular phone briefing with reporters on Wednesday, did not repeat the warning.
He described the situation in Syria as "rather tense," but declined to specify how Moscow would respond to a U.S. airstrike against its ally Assad. Russian General Staff Chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov has said the military would hit back if U.S. airstrikes endangered Russian servicemen in Syria.
"Regarding the question of what will happen in the event of this or that strike, one still wants to hope that all sides will avoid steps that (a) are not provoked by anything in reality and (b) could significantly destabilize the already fragile situation in the region," Peskov said Wednesday.
In Geneva, the World Health Organization said Wednesday that it was "deeply alarmed" by the reports that chemical weapons had been used. At least 43 people were killed Saturday night from suspected exposure, while some 500 patients poured into medical facilities that had been also been bombed, the organization said.
"We should all be outraged at these horrific reports and images from Douma," said Peter Salama, the WHO director general.
On Tuesday, a network of local flight monitors in Syria said that they had tracked several helicopters heading southwest from a government air base Saturday. The same models of aircraft were later detected circling over Douma at 7:26 p.m. to 7:38 p.m. Reports of a suspected gas attack began circulating minutes later.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a global watchdog, said Tuesday that its inspectors were preparing to deploy to Syria, and that Assad's government had been approached for permission to enter Douma.
But the scope of its mandate remained unclear. The organization is not responsible for naming the perpetrators of any chemical attack, and previous inspectors have said that their missions were hampered by government restrictions.