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Conflict in Syria

Lawmaker calls possible US strike on Syria 'Trump’s image story’

US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter earlier that Russia should be ready to shoot down missiles fired at Syria

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Head of the Federation Council’s Interim Commission for Information Policy and Mass Media Relations Alexei Pushkov said that the US may conduct a military strike on Syria, but denounced it as absolutely senseless and the statement about it as President Donald Trump’s "purely image story."

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Trump on Syria: Never said when an attack would take place

"This is posturing. This action has no sense at all, save the one: to show that Trump is a strong president, that he remains the leader of a free world. Two irreconcilable things have been thrown into the scale: the posture of a strong leader and the danger of an armed conflict between Russia and the US. This posturing may trigger a dangerous process," Pushkov said on Thursday at a meeting with representatives for the Association of Foreign Correspondents at the Federation Council.

"This is, of course, Trump. He can say something tomorrow, that nothing will happen, but it will sound rather strange. I think that some sort of a strike will be carried out [by the US on Syria,]" the senator noted, adding that he take Trump’s tweet about "smart" missiles seriously, firstly because there was a precedent a year ago when the US hit the Shayrat Airbase, and secondly the American president is now demanded to take inclusive measures on Syria.

Pushkov added that the US cannot reverse or change the conflict in Syria without sending several tens of thousands of its soldiers there. "The conflict in Syria is predetermined, to my mind. Even if the US delivers a strike, this won’t change the power balance in Syria," the MP said. If the US’ goal is to intimidate Russia, then Washington will fail, the senator said.

US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter earlier that Russia should be ready to shoot down missiles fired at Syria. In his next tweet the American president stated that American-Russian relations are currently the worst in history and also suggested Russia should stop the arms race.

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