US alerted Russian military 30 minutes before airstrike in Syria – but made no direct contact with Putin as Tillerson accuses Moscow of being ‘complicit’ in chemical weapons attack
Russia received signals the US was launching an airstrike on a Syrian air base
Rex Tillerson said Russian military received ‘deconfliction’ notice, but emphasized the Trump administration did not seek approval from Putin
The US military fired more than 50 tomahawk missiles at Syrian military airfield
This puts Trump at odds with Russia which has air and ground forces in Syria after intervening in support of Assad in 2015
Trump blamed Assad of sarin attack that killed more than 80 in Syria on Tuesday
By JESSICA CHIA
DAILYMAIL.COM
7 April 2017
Russia was informed the United States was launching an airstrike on a Syrian air base about 30 minutes in advance, according to Moscow’s ambassador to the UN.
The US military fired more than 50 tomahawk missiles at the al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs at 8.45pm on Thursday while President Donald Trump was hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The Russian military, which has ground troops in Syria as well as a fleet of around eight Mi-28N Night Hunter and Ka-52 Alligator gunships stationed at the base, received a ‘deconfliction’ notice, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
But no direct contact was made between the Trump administration and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Tillerson emphasizing that they did not seek approval from Moscow.
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