Russian Federation vetoes United Nations draft resolution on Syria gas attack probe

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson enter a hall during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, April 12, 2017.

The Kremlin leader, speaking separately to an interviewer from Russian state television, agreed that relations between Washington and Moscow had deteriorated this year.

Earlier on Wednesday Tillerson had a similar tone after an nearly two-hour meeting with Putin, saying the two countries had reached a “low point” in relations. The world’s two biggest nuclear powers are at odds over multiple issues, including Moscow’s continued support for rebels in eastern Ukraine battling the Kyiv government, and the US intelligence community’s declaration that computer hackers acting on orders from the Kremlin interfered in last year’s USA presidential election.

Besides, Lavrov and Muallem are expected to hold bilateral talks.

In an interview with Fox News aired Wednesday, Trump said he broke the news of the USA missile strike on Syria during a dinner with Xi and that the Chinese leader “was OK with it” because it was in response to the use of “gases” and victims had included young children and babies.

After the vote, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said with its veto, Russian Federation said no to cooperation with UN’s investigation and Russian Federation said no to a resolution that would have helped to promote peace in Syria.

But RC Hammond, a senior Tillerson aide, said flatly: “No agreements were reached”.

Moscow has stood by Assad, saying the poison gas belonged to rebels, an explanation Washington dismisses as beyond credible.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told the council that “with its veto, Russia said no to accountability, Russia said no to cooperating with the UN investigation, Russia said no to helping keep peace in Syria”.

“As for the charges Russian Federation has been concealing the truth Damascus allegedly has chemical weapons…”

“If our USA colleagues and some European nations believe that their version is right, they have no reason to fear the creation of such an independent group”, Lavrov said. At least 86 people were killed in the attack.

Tillerson and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, engaged in a lengthy, detailed and often blunt exchange of views at a Moscow news conference that veered across an array of thorny foreign policy questions and reinforced how deeply at odds the two governments stand at the start of the Trump administration.

Russia’s proposal on the investigation of Idlib chemical attack is being met with resistance, Lavrov said.

However, the Syrian envoy to the UN Bashar Ja’afari dismissed as “lies” and “accusations” the notion that his country used “a chemical weapon we do not even possess”.

Safronkov charged that the United Kingdom and USA support terrorist groups seeking to remove the Assad regime.

“This relationship continues today, with United States and Turkish military forces working together to counter a wide range of threats to our common security”, the secretary said, adding that threats included ISIS and the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party].

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov blasted USA claims that it has “irrefutable evidence” of election interference. However, the USA has accused Assad of the strike and the Pentagon said it would investigate any Russian role, claims Moscow has rejected. “I feel ashamed, I feel ashamed”.

Lavrov, echoing past denials of any Russian hacking or other interference in the electoral process, said Moscow hasn’t seen “a single fact, or even a hint at facts” proving the US allegations of Russian interference.

The spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told a conference call with reporters on Thursday that the tone of the meeting had been “fairly constructive”.

The final draft resolution included a paragraph that the Russians objected to last week stressing Syria’s requirement to provide investigators with flight plans and information about air operations on April 4 when Khan Sheikhoun was attacked, names of helicopter squadron commanders, and immediate access to air bases where they believe an attack may have been launched.

It was not the first meeting between the two men.

It’s the eighth time Russian Federation has vetoed a proposed Security Council resolution on Syria.