International security

Russia condemns U.S. missile strike on Syria, suspends key air agreement

Russia on Friday condemned the U.S. missile strike against Syrian government forces late Thursday, and said it was pulling out of an agreement to minimize the risk of in-flight incidents between U.S. and Russian aircraft operating over Syria.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry also called for an immediate meeting of the United Nations Security Council after President Vladi­mir Putin declared the strike a violation of international law.

The 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired at a Syrian military air base constituted the first direct American assault against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which Moscow has supported military since 2015.

“President Putin considers the American strikes against Syria an aggression against a sovereign government in violations of the norms of international law, and under a far-fetched pretext,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday. “This step by Washington is causing significant damage to Russian-American relations, which are already in a deplorable state.”