VIENNA, April 16. /TASS/. Russia is surprised by the absence of reaction from the OSCE European security agency to an act of aggression by Western countries against Syria, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said on Monday.

"Democracy of our Western partners turns out to be selective, applied only to the matters advantageous for them, while inconvenient things are brushed away," the Russian ambassador told a session of the Working Group on Structured Dialogue. "We are surprised by the absence of any reaction to what happened from the chairmanship and the OSCE secretary general (the reaction to deteriorating situation on the Korean peninsula was immediate in due time)," the diplomat said.

On April 14, the Russian diplomat urged the OSCE secretary-general and the Italian chairmanship to react to reckless behavior of the US, the UK and France in Syria, coming in direct violation of rules of international law, to a crackdown on the basic principles of the OSCE.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the missile strike against Syria’s military and civilian infrastructures was carried out by US warplanes and naval ships in cooperation with the British and French air forces between 03:42 and 05:10 Moscow time on Saturday, April 14. The ministry reported that Syria’s air defense units had been able to shoot down 71 of 103 cruise missiles.

The United States, the UK and France said the strikes were a response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, a suburb of Syria’s capital.