WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday warned Russia that any further chemical attacks in Syria would be “very damaging” to their relationship and suggested that there can be no peace while President Bashar al-Assad remains in power.
The warning came ahead of US secretary of state Rex Tillerson’s meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for talks on the matter.
It will be the first face-to-face encounter between the two high-ups since US cruise missiles slammed into a Syrian air base early on Friday in retaliation for a suspected sarin gas attack on April 4 that killed at least 87 civilians in the rebel-held Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun.
