In call with Iran’s Rouhani, Putin says further airstrikes on Syria would ‘lead to chaos’

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned that further airstrikes by Western powers on Syria would worsen the already tense international relations, Reuters reported.

Putin made the comments during a conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani about the Friday night air raid on bases believed to be responsible for the alleged April 7 chemical attack on eastern Ghouta that killed dozens.

According to a Kremlin statement following the Russian President’s conversation with Rouhani, the two leaders agreed that the US-led airstrikes on three targets in Syria “had damaged the chances of achieving a political resolution” in the country.

“Vladimir Putin, in particular, stressed that if such actions in violation of the UN Charter continue, then it will inevitably lead to chaos in international relations,” it read.

Russian support for President Bashar al-Assad since 2015 has effectively turned the tide of the years-long civil war in the Syrian President’s favor.

A statement on Saturday by the Russian Ambassador to the US following the strikes claimed Moscow was “being threatened,” and had previously “warned that such [military] actions [would] not be left without consequences.”

Russia had also requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to vote on a Russian-drafted resolution condemning the Syria strikes. However, the resolution was not adopted after failing to receive the required number of votes.

Iran’s Rouhani, a supporter of the Assad regime, also spoke with the Syrian President on Saturday.

During the conversation, Rouhani expressed “his confidence that this aggression would not weaken the determination of the Syrian people in its war against terrorism,” Reuters reported.

“Such attacks will have no result but more destruction,” the Iranian leader said. “The Americans want to justify their presence in the region by such attacks.”