Media: No evidence available that US is preparing for new strike against Syria
Russian news outlet Kommersant, citing a Russian military-diplomatic source, reports that there is no evidence that the Western coalition is preparing a second strike against Syria.
"There is no current evidence that the United States and its allies are immediately ready to strike again; French and British aircraft have returned to their places of permanent deployment, and US destroyers that have used up their stock of cruise missiles are likely to leave for Rota, Spain,” the publication quotes the diplomat as saying.
"After the Saturday air strikes by the United States, Britain and France on Syria, all parties involved in the conflict, somehow, declared their victory and gave diametrically opposite information about what occurred," the newspaper noted.
On Saturday, April 14, the armed forces of the US, Britain and France carried out an airstrike against Syria in response to the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian city of Douma in Eastern Ghouta. Several targets in Damascus and Homs were destroyed, and three casualties were reported. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that a total of 100 missiles were fired at Syrian territory, whereas the Pentagon cited a slightly higher figure – 105.
The US announced that it will strike again if the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons again. US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley said that Washington’s strategy with Syria remains unchanged. “If Damascus uses poisonous gas again, the US is locked and loaded,” she remarked. With respect to the attacks, she said that the US’s response was “weighed, legitimate and proportional”.