Secretary of Defense James Mattis, en route to a NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, told reporters that Syria appears to have backed away from conducting a chemical weapons attack after President Donald Trump’s warning.
At a Tuesday press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed last week’s chemical weapons attack in the Idlib province of Syria was a “false flag” – a phony operation staged by enemies of Russia and Syria to discredit them. He said more such false flag operations were on the way.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday that Moscow would “strengthen and raise the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces’ systems of anti-aircraft defense systems” following the American missile strike on Syria’s Sharyat airbase.
A stunning update on Friday afternoon from the Associated Press said the Pentagon is investigating possible Russian participation in the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons attack.
Turkey on Friday welcomed a US missile strike on a Syrian regime airbase in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack, calling for a no-fly zone in the country to prevent further bloodshed.
