Trump taunts Russia, says US military response coming in Syria
Washington (CNN)President
Donald Trump warned Russia on Wednesday that it should "get ready" for a
missile strike on Syria, vowing to thwart any missile defenses.
"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!'," Trump wrote. "You shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!"
The public
suggestion of US military confrontation with Russia is sure to raise
tensions in an already volatile situation and add more confusion to US
policy in the region. Trump said earlier this month -- before the
weekend's suspected chemical attack on civilians at the hands of the
Assad regime -- that he wanted to withdraw US troops from Syria. Wednesday's statement is also notable because Trump has criticized his predecessors for publicly telegraphing US military action.
Trump
appeared to soften his rhetoric in a follow-up tweet Wednesday morning,
saying there is "no reason" for the US's worsening relationship with
Russia and that "we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms
race?"
Trump also conflated US
tensions with Russia over special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, saying
"much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt
Russia Investigation."
Trump has been weighing his course of action in Syria following the suspected chemical attack,
which he described as "sick" over the weekend. In the aftermath of the
attack, he criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran for
supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and threatened there would
be a "big price to pay" for the deaths.
Defense
Secretary James Mattis said Wednesday the US is "still assessing the
intelligence" on whether the Assad regime is to blame for the recent
suspected chemical attack but added that the US stands ready for
military strikes in Syria.
"We stand ready to provide military options if they are appropriate as the President determined," he said.
Mattis
also ignored a question about whether he was concerned about
telegraphing US military moves in Syria, a question appearing to refer
to Trump's earlier tweet on Wednesday.
Russia
and Syria quickly responded to Trump's threat on Wednesday. Syria's
Foreign Ministry said it was not surprised by the US' "reckless
escalation" via Trump's tweets, the state-run news agency SANA reported,
while Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a
Facebook post that "smart missiles should fly toward terrorists, not the
legal government that has been fighting international terrorism for
several years on its territory."
Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Russia hopes all parties
involved in Syria will avoid any steps that could "significantly
destabilize" an already "fragile situation."
Peskov
added there were no plans for Putin to call Trump, French President
Emmanuel Macron or UK Prime Minister Theresa May amid the crisis.
Speaking
in the British city of Birmingham on Wednesday, May said "all the
indications" are that the Syrian regime was responsible for a chemical
weapons attack in Douma, adding that the use of such weapons "cannot go
unchallenged."
May has not confirmed whether the UK government is considering military action.
On
Tuesday, Russia's ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin told
Hezbollah's TV station Al Manar that if there was an American strike on
Syria, they would be shot down and the launch sites would be targeted.
The
US did provide Russia with advance warning via military channels
shortly prior to the April 2017 missile strike on the Syrian air base
believed responsible for a previous chemical weapons attack. That
warning was made in order to avoid casualties among Russian military
advisers in Syria. Despite the advance notice, Russia made no effort to
shoot down the American missiles.