A 2013 photo of destruction in Aleppo, Image credit: English: Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Wikimedia Commons
Amid international tensions over reports that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in an attack in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta region, the United States and Russia exchanged barbs at a UN Security Council meeting.
International media accounts say the attack killed at least 70 people, including children, died in the rebel-held town of Douma on Saturday.
Washington has said it will shortly come up with a response to Bashar al Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians.
At the UNSC meeting, Moscow’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia warned that the incident in Douma was staged and that any US military action in response could have “grave repercussions”.
“Through the relevant channels we already conveyed to the US that armed force under mendacious pretext against Syria where, at the request of the legitimate government of a country, Russian troops have been deployed, could lead to grave repercussions,” he said.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
But the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley declared that the US “will respond” to the alleged attack regardless of whether the UN Security Council acts or not.
“We have reached the moment when the world must see justice done,” Haley told the Council.
“History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria,” she said. “Either way, the United States will respond.”
The comments came after President Donald Trump promised quick action in response to the “barbaric” alleged chemical weapons attack.
Trump told a cabinet meeting he was in talks with military and other advisers and a decision would be made within 48 hours.
“Nothing is off the table,” he said when asked if military action was a possibility.
At the UN Headquarters, calling Syrian President al-Assad a “monster”, Ms Haley said that if the UN Security Council acts or not, “either way, the United States will respond”.
“Meetings are ongoing, important decisions are being weighed even as we speak,” she said.
Diplomats at the UN said the Security Council could vote as early as Tuesday on rival US and Russian proposals to investigate chemical weapons attacks in Syria. But they expect the move could trigger vetoes on both measures.
The diplomats said US ambassador Haley told a closed-door Council meeting that the United States wanted a vote on the measure, even though Russia said it contained “some unacceptable elements”.
In January, Moscow had put forward its own proposal, which was rejected by the Western powers who say it would give the Syrian government an upper hand over investigations on its territory.
“The United States is pushing for a vote tomorrow,” said a Security Council diplomat. “The US position was that they were negotiating in good faith, but the world is watching for the council to act.”
There was no formal request for a vote, however, by the evening on Monday.
Russia and Syria have brushed aside reports that chemical weapons were used in Syria.
A draft resolution requires nine votes to be adopted and no vetoes from the five permanent members– Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
Washington is proposing to establish the new panel for one year to work with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to identify perpetrators of chemical attacks.
Assad has been fighting ISIS in his country but has also used brutal force against civilians in one of the deadliest civil wars that began with search for democracy as part of the Arab Spring of movements.
