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Conflict in Syria

Senate speaker says Russia to continue supporting Syria in war on terror

"We will boost our cooperation in the war on terror," Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said

© Russian Defense Ministry Press Office/TASS

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. Russia will continue to support Syria in its fight against terrorism, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said at a meeting with Syria’s Parliament Speaker Hadiyeh al-Abbas.

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"We will continue to make every possible effort to support the Syrian people in their fight against international terrorism," Matviyenko said. "We will boost our cooperation in the war on terror," she added.

The Russian senate speaker also said that Moscow strongly condemned the recent US missile attack on a Syrian air base. "We consider it to be an act of aggression against a sovereign state," she stressed.

Matviyenko added that from the very beginning of the Syrian crisis, Russia had been emphasizing that it was unacceptable to interfere in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state. "We also believe that the Syrian crisis can only be resolved at the negotiating table," the Russian senator added.

On April 7, US President Donald Trump ordered a strike on Syria’s Shayrat military air base located in the Homs Governorate. The attack, involving 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM), came as a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Idlib Governorate on April 4. The US authorities believe that the airstrike on Idlib was launched from the Shayrat air base.

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Putin calls US strikes against Syria 'aggression against sovereign country'

The Syrian military denied its involvement in the attack. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that on April 4, the Syrian air force had delivered an airstrike on the eastern outskirts of the town of Khan Shaykhun to destroy militant facilities used to produce chemical bombs. These bombs were sent to Iraq and were previously used in Aleppo.

Russia strongly opposed the US missile strike. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow considered the attack to be an act of aggression against a sovereign state. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in turn, said that the aggression was carried out under a false pretext.

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Valentina Matviyenko Terrorism Syrian conflict

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