While Russia threatened war with the United States, if it were to attack Syria; Moscow has voiced in the last 24 hours its aspiration of alleviating tensions with the West. In statements by Russian officials, including the Foreign Ministry and the Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow has accused the West of violating the United Nations charter that could lead to a “point of no return.” “Aggressive policies of some certain permanent council members are having and preparations that they are making, this is a clear violation of the U.N. Charter. The threat to international peace and security is a violation of the U.N. Charter. We are very concerned with the situation, with the dangerous escalation. We hope that there will be no point of no return, that the U.S. and their allies will refrain from their military action against a sovereign state. You understand that the danger of escalation is higher than simply Syria because our military are there on the invitation of the Syrian government. So, the situation is very dangerous, and we made it very clear at the consultations,” Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vassily Nebenzia said.
When asked whether an escalation could lead to an all-out-war between Russia and the United States, Ambassador Nebenzia stressed that he could not exclude any possibilities. “We cannot exclude any possibilities unfortunately because we saw messages that are coming from Washington. They were very bellicose. They know we are there. I hope, I wish there was dialogue through appropriate channels on this to avert any dangerous development,” Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vassily Nebenzia said.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is holding meetings on a possible response to the suspected chemical attack in Syria, emphasizing that he will make a decision on the matter fairly soon. “We are having a meeting today on Syria, we’re having a number of meetings today and we’ll see what happens. We’re obviously looking for that very closely. And I will be leaving here, I was there and now I’ll be going back as soon as this meeting is over. But, we’re looking very very seriously, very closely at that whole situation and we’ll see what happens folks. We’ll see what happens. It’s too bad that the world puts us in a position like that. But you know as I said this morning, we’ve done a great job with ISIS. We have just absolutely decimated ISIS, but now we have to make some further decisions so they will be made fairly soon. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you very much,” US President Donald Trump said.
As the United States seeks support from its European allies, British Prime Minister Theresa May had summoned her senior ministers to a special cabinet meeting to discuss joining a US-led military operation in Syria. Shortly thereafter, the BBC reported that May has won support to give the go-ahead for Britain to partake in military action with the United States and France. May decided to move forward with the decision without seeking prior approval from parliament, as she is not obliged to win its approval. The Spokesperson for Downing Street was not immediately available for comment.