National security adviser John Bolton delivered a message to his Russian counterpart that the U.S. is prepared to hit Syrian President Bashar Assad with stronger military action than it has in the past if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons as it seeks to retake control of one of the country’s last rebel-held areas, according to a new report.
Bolton relayed the message to Nikolai Patrushev during a meeting in Geneva on Thursday, Bloomberg reported.
President Trump has previously ordered two limited strikes against the Assad regime in response to its use of chemical weapons against Syrians. Assad and Russia have denied chemical weapons were used, insisting they were staged by rebel groups.
Bolton’s warning comes as Russian-backed Syrian forces are deploying around Idlib, where tens of thousands of fighters — now dominated by jihadists — are stationed.
Bolton said earlier this week the U.S. was “concerned” Assad would use chemical weapons again.
“Just so there’s no confusion here, if the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons, we will respond very strongly,” Bolton said Wednesday in Jerusalem.
