US, Russia come to loggerheads in UN meeting - Reuters

Retuers is reporting on the confrontation between the US and Russia that heated up at the UN Security Council meeting today, as major world leaders gathered to discuss possible courses of action following the perceived chemical weapons attack that killed around 60 people and injured over a thousand in Douma Syria this weekend.

Key quotes (source: Reuters)

U.S. President Donald Trump and Western allies are discussing possible military action to punish Assad for a suspected poison gas attack on Saturday on a rebel-held town that long had held out against government forces.

 On the diplomatic front, Russia vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution at the United Nations to create a new inquiry to ascertain blame for such attacks. The United States and other countries then blocked a rival Russian bid to set up a separate probe that would require the Security Council to attribute responsibility.

Moscow opposes any Western strike on its close ally Assad and has vetoed Security Council action on Syria 12 times since the conflict started.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the Security Council that adopting the U.S.-drafted resolution was the least that member nations could do. “History will record that, on this day, Russia chose protecting a monster over the lives of the Syrian people,” Haley said, referring to Assad. At least 60 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in Saturday’s suspected chemical weapons attack on the town of Douma, according to a Syrian relief group.

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Washington’s decision to put forward its resolution could be a prelude to a Western strike on Syria. “The United States is again trying to mislead the international community and is taking yet one more step toward confrontation,” Nebenzia told the 15-member council. “It is clear that the provocation step has nothing to do with a desire to investigate what happened.”

Twelve council members voted in favor of the U.S.-drafted resolution, while Bolivia joined Russia in voting no and China abstained. A Security Council resolution needs nine votes in favor but no vetoes by permanent members Russia, China, France, Britain or the United States to pass.

The Douma incident has thrust Syria’s conflict back to the forefront of the international stage, pitting Washington and Moscow against each other once again.

Last year, the United States launched strikes from two Navy destroyers against a Syrian air base. U.S. military action similar to last year’s would likely not cause a shift in the direction of the war that has gone Assad’s way since 2015 with massive aid from Iran and Russia.

Despite the international revulsion over chemical weapons attacks, the death toll from such incidents in Syria only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of combatants and civilians killed since the war began in 2011.