Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday said the U.S. has no reason to believe Russia was actively engaged in the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons use against its own citizens last week, nor any reason Moscow would retaliate against Washington for its missile launch against Bashar Assad’s air field.
“We do not have any information that suggests that Russia was part of the military attack undertaken using the chemical weapons,” Tillerson told CBS “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson.
Asked if he’s worried about Russian retaliation, Tillerson said: “I see no reason that there would be retaliation since the Russians were never targeted in this particular strike. It was a very deliberate, very proportional, and – and very targeted strike undertaken in response to the chemical weapons attack. And Russia was never part of the targeting.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called U.S. missile launches on a Syrian air base a significant blow to its relationship with America.
Tillerson responded on Sunday by saying Russia failed in its commitment remove those weapons from the country and that cannot go unnoticed.
“I guess, I’m not too surprise that Russia will make that statement. I will tell you I’m disappointed. I think the real failure here has been Russia’s failure to live up to its commitments under the chemical weapons agreements that were entered into in 2013, both by the Syrian government and by Russia as the guarrantor to play the role in Syria of securing chemical weapons, destroying chemical weapons and continuing to monitor that situation,” Tillerson told ABC “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos.
The line of communication between the U.S. and Russia is still in place, according to the top diplomat, who said battlefield commanders are able to speak with one another.
The U.S. launched nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base on Thursday that had been used to create chemical weapons that Assad used against his own people two days earlier, killing more than 70 people. The Trump administration said it targeted that airfield in an attempt to prevent further attacks on Syrian citizens.
