Trump’s warning for Russia

Moscow’s threat to down US missiles came from its ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, who said it was based on previous statements by President Vladimir Putin and the Russian armed forces chief of staff.

The Russian military said on March 13 that it would respond to any US strike on Syria by targeting any missiles and launchers involved.

Putin, meanwhile, spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday and urged him to do nothing to destabilise Syria.

With tensions growing, however, European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol warned airlines to exercise caution in the eastern Mediterranean due to the possible launch of airstrikes into Syria.

Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said during a visit to Damascus on Wednesday that an Israeli attack on an air base in Syria on Monday would “not remain without response”.

Israel held top-level security consultations yesterday on the possibility it could be targeted by Syria or Iran if the US strikes Syrian government forces.

Syria’s Russian-supplied air defences shot down an Israeli F-16 jet in February during a bombing run against what Israel described as Iranian-backed positions in Syria.

Last year, the US carried out strikes from two navy destroyers against a Syrian air base after another toxic gas attack on a rebel-controlled pocket.

— Reuters