Russia has called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council as Moscow said it would consider supplying S-300 missile systems to Syria following US-led strikes.

"Russia convenes an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss aggressive actions of the US and its allies," President Vladimir Putin said in a statement on Saturday published on the Kremlin website.

"The current escalation of the situation around Syria has a devastating impact on the whole system of international relations," he added.

US, British and French forces pounded Syria with more than 100 missiles early on Saturday in response to a poison gas attack that killed dozens of people last week, in the biggest intervention by Western powers against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Putin said the US actions in Syria made the humanitarian catastrophe worse and caused pain for civilians.

"Russia in the most serious way condemns the attack on Syria where Russian military servicemen help the legitimate government to fight terrorism," Putin said.

Moscow may consider supplying S-300 surface to-air missile systems to Syria and "other countries", Colonel-General Sergei Rudskoi told a televised briefing on Saturday.

Russia had "refused" supplying those missiles to Syria a few years ago, he added, "taking into account the pressing request of some of our Western partners".

Following the US-led strikes, however, "we consider it possible to return to examination of this issue not only in regard to Syria but to other countries as well," Rudskoi said.

Syria's air defence system, which mostly consists of systems made in the Soviet Union, has intercepted 71 of the missiles fired on Saturday by the US, British and French forces, he added.

"In the past year and a half Russia has fully restored Syria's air defence system and continues to further upgrade it," Rudskoi said.</s>The UN Security Council on Saturday soundly rejected Russia’s call to condemn the United States and its allies for striking Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile.

Russia, China and Bolivia voted in favor of Moscow’s emergency resolution, well short of the nine “yes” votes Syria’s main ally needed.

The Security Council is comprised of five permanent members – the US, France, Great Britain, China and Russia – and 10 rotating members.

Those current members are Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, and Sweden.</s>Israeli officials have expressed concern that Russia, in response to the allies’ triple attack on Syrian chemical sites Friday, will accelerate the sale of advanced weapons systems to Syria, making it a great deal more difficult for the Israeli army to operate on the northern front and for the air force to attack targets deep inside Syria, Channel 2 News reported Saturday.

Despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement Saturday night, suggesting that “the United States, France and the United Kingdom demonstrated that their commitment is not limited to proclamations of principle,” the Israeli defense apparatus is concerned that Russia use the excuse of Friday’s attack to sell its advanced weapons systems to the Syrians.

One official who remained anonymous said, “This attack will allow the Americans to say, ‘We have done what is necessary, then leave Syria, forcing Israel to deal with the Iranian threat on the northern border on its own.’”

Sergey Rudskoy, head of the General Operations Directorate of the Russian Staff, was reported to say that Russia may reconsider supplying S-300 missile defense systems to Syria. “I would like to point out that a few years ago, because of the urgent demands from some of our Western partners, we refused to provide Syria with S-300 missile systems,” Rudskoy said, “but taking into account what happened, we consider it possible to re-examine this, not only with regard to Syria but also to other countries.”

“We have developed the Syrian air defense system, and will improve it,” Rudskoy said.

Another source of concern for the Israeli security establishment is that the actions of the Western powers provide Russia with a pretext to ignore Israel’s demands regarding Iranian proxies’ movement on Syrian soil, especially near the border.</s>The United States, France, and Britain launched military strikes in Syria in response to Syrian President Bashar Assad chemical attack against civilians and to prevent him from doing it again.

Following the allied airstrike launched Friday evening, the United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting, Saturday.

The post Watch Live: UN Security Council holds emergency meeting following U.S., allied airstrikes in Syria appeared first on 850 WFTL.</s>Russia on Saturday said it was calling an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, where it is a permanent member, over Western strikes on Syria.

"Russia is calling an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss the aggressive actions of the US and its allies," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The statement also condemned the air strikes on Syria where its armed forces are backing regime leader Bashar al-Assad.

"Russia severely condemns the attack on Syria where Russian military are helping the lawful government in the fight with terrorism," the Kremlin in its first reaction to the strikes.

Russia said that the Western powers "cynically" carried out military action hours before a team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was set to begin an investigation into the suspected chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta that sparked the intervention by the US and its allies.

The current escalation of the situation in Syria "has a destructive effect on the whole system of international relations," the Kremlin said.</s>President Vladimir Putin says Russia will call an emergency session of UN Security Council over strike on Syria

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin says Russia will call an emergency session of UN Security Council over strike on Syria.</s>The Russian military has claimed that the Syrian air defences, whose most modern weapon is a three-decades-old Russian-supplied anti-aircraft system, shot down 71 of 103 missiles fired by the US and its allies, the UK and France.



As further details began to emerge about the sites targeted by the US-led strikes, Col Gen Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military said the strikes had not caused any casualties and that Syrian military facilities suffered only minor damage.



Although it was not possible to verify the claims, the most up-to-date system that Moscow has supplied to the Syrian regime is the short range Pantsir S-1, which has an anti-missile capability.

Russia said its advisers had spent the last 18 months completely rebuilding the Syrian air defence system, and said the high number of intercepted rockets spoke to “the high effectiveness of the weaponry in Syria and the excellent training of Syrian servicemen prepared by our specialists”.

Although Russia suggested that Syrian forces had been responsible for manning their own air defences, Russian advisers have a long history of operating systems in such situations.

Video footage that emerged in the aftermath of the strikes appeared to show air defence missiles being launched.

The Pantsir – which has reportedly been used in the past to shoot down several drones and missiles in Syria – is far more modern than Syria’s other anti-aircraft systems that make up the backbone of the country’s air defences, some of which which first came into service in the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 60s.

While it was not possible to verify the claims, Syria claimed to have intercepted suspected Israeli missiles fired on a base earlier this month, while an Israeli jet was brought down in February.

Moscow said Syria used S-125, S-200, Buk and Kvadrat systems to repel the attack.

Russian officials named six airbases as specific targets of Saturday’s attacks, including al-Dumayr military airport, an airbase near the city of Homs, and the Shayrat airbase that was targeted in 2017.

Rudskoi said Syria had Soviet-made defence systems that Moscow has “completely overhauled”, including S-200 systems and Buk missiles.



He said Russian air defences in Syria – including state of the art S-400 coastal missile batteries located at the Russian naval base at Tartus and elsewhere – monitored the strike but did not engage any of the missiles.

Rudskoi said the Syrian military used Soviet-made air defence systems with high efficiency, shooting down all of the missiles aimed at four key Syrian airbases.

The most significant Russian response for the region, however, is likely to be the announcement that Moscow will consider supplying Syria with S-300 missiles in response to the attack.

Vladimir Putin said in 2013 after talks with EU leaders that Moscow had refrained from supplying the powerful S-300 air defence systems to Assad’s government.

While the supply of S-300s to Syria is unlikely to trouble the US military, their widespread deployment would make it much more hazardous for Israeli jets to target Syria as they have done with relative impunity until recently.

“Considering what has happened, we consider it possible to reassess this question and not just as far as concerns Syria, but other countries too,” Rudskoi said on supplying the missile system.

The latest raids have underlined how, despite the huge humanitarian cost of the war in Syria, the country has become a proving ground for some of the world’s most advanced weapons systems, deployed both by the US and Russia.

According to reports in the immediate aftermath of the attack, the strikes involved the first combat use of the JASSM advanced missile, reportedly fired from US B1-B Lancer heavy bombers.

The stealthy cruise missiles, which have a range of 230 miles (370km), can carry a 450kg warhead and use infrared sensors to guide themselves towards their targets. Each B1 can carry four.

The weapon, like others used in Saturday’s strikes, can be delivered from outside the Syrian and Russian air defences meaning that the aircraft and ships involved would not be exposed.

The use of the JASSM – which first came into use nine years ago – would fit with Donald Trump’s tweet this week warning Russia the US would respond with a “new” and “smart” missile.

Trump and Putin have been engaged in recent months in something of a rhetorical arms race over weapons systems and their capabilities, with Putin boasting of new hypersonic nuclear missiles and high-speed submarines before the recent presidential election.

Russia this year deployed its most advanced fighter jet to Syria, the stealth-capable Su-57.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, Friday, April 13, 2018. The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to coordinate their actions to avoid further military escalation in Syria. Mihkail Klimentyev/Pool Photo via AP
• Russia called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council following the US-led military strikes on Syria late Friday.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin called the operation an "act of aggression," and Iran said it was a "criminal" attack.
• NATO and the US's other allies expressed support for the strikes, which were carried out in response to a chemical attack in Syria thought to have been ordered by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A UN Security Council diplomat says the council will meet later Saturday at Russia's request, following the US-led airstrikes on Syria.

Moscow has denounced the attack on its ally by the US, Britain, and France. Russian president Vladimir Putin calls it an "act of aggression" that will only worsen the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

The Security Council held emergency meetings this past week on the suspected poison gas attack last weekend in the rebel-controlled Damascus suburb of Douma.

President Donald Trump and his British and French allies say the airstrikes were necessary to deter Syria's use of chemical weapons. Russia insists there's no evidence that chemical weapons were used.

A fact-finding team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is in Syria to investigate.</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said Russia will call an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, where it is a permanent member, over Western strikes on Syria.

Putin said the strike on Syrian by the US, UK and France will exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria.

"Russia is calling an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss the aggressive actions of the US and its allies," the Kremlin said in a statement.

"Russia severely condemns the attack on Syria where Russian military are helping the lawful government in the fight with terrorism," the Kremlin says.

The United States, France and Britain on Saturday struck targets in Syria with airstrikes in retaliation for an apparent chemical weapons attack outside Damascus by Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"More than 100 cruise missiles and air-to-land missiles were fired by the US, Britain and France from the sea and air at Syrian military and civilian targets," the ministry said in a statement quoted by RIA Novosti news agency, adding that "a significant number" were shot down by Syrian air defences.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Syrian citizens are demonstrating in a landmark square of the Syrian capital, waving victory signs and honking their car horns in a show of defiance.

For breaking news & Instant updates throughout the day</s>Smoke rises as the US Navy guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey fires Tomahawk land attack missiles in this still image from Pentagon's video released on 14 April 2018. Photo: US Navy Lt. j.g Matthew Daniels/Handout via REUTERS

RUSSIA - How will Russia respond to Western strikes against Moscow-allied Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime?

For all of the Kremlin's big talk and bluster, a military response is unlikely, with Moscow expected to stick to a barrage of diplomatic protests, experts say.

President Vladimir Putin "severely" condemned the strikes on Syria, adding that Washington was already responsible for the "bloodbath in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya."

But the Russian leader did not announce any retaliatory measures and Moscow simply called an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council.

Fyodor Lukyanov, the Kremlin-friendly editor of The Russia in Global Affairs magazine, ruled out the prospect of a direct military conflict between Moscow and Washington.

"As expected, the main objective was a show of force," Lukyanov told state news agency TASS, referring to the strikes carried out jointly by the US, Britain and France.

"The targets were chosen quite carefully to keep the situation under control."

Alexei Malashenko, head of research at Moscow's Institute for the Dialogue of Civilisations, struck a similar note.

"We do not hear anything about retaliatory strikes, this subject has disappeared," Malashenko told AFP.

"Practically everyone believes that a military response from Russia is not possible, this is very dangerous and can have the opposite effect."

Alexander Shumilin, director of the Center for the Analysis of Middle East Conflicts at the Institute for US and Canadian Studies, also said that a military response was not on the cards.

"The strikes were targeted and no direct damage was inflicted on Russia and Russians," Shumilin told AFP.

"Retaliatory steps can only be taken in the domains of politics and propaganda -- which is what's happening," Shumilin said.

"There's nothing else you can do."

Malashenko added: "There will be a lot of noise, a litany of speeches but no firm action will be taken. And then again, Russia cannot do anything."

He added that more strong rhetoric was expected from Russia at the United Nations. "But that does not mean anything," he added.

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee at Russian parliament's upper house, set the tone when he called for "legal" consequences, in one of Moscow's first comments after the strikes.

"I am absolutely convinced that our response to the situation should be legal and not military -- as long as our military installations in Syria are not affected," state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kosachev as saying.

"This is of course an immediate session of the United Nations Security Council."
Russia calls for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council as it considers supplying S-300 missile systems to Syria.