RNA - “If you’re an animal yourself, don’t think others are the same,” Ayman Soussan, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, told Sputnik.
He stressed that Assad “is the president of a sovereign state elected by his people, and it is the Syrian people, not Trump... who should give an assessment of [President Assad].”
On Tuesday, Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that “if Russia didn’t go in and back this animal [Assad], you wouldn’t have a problem right now.”
Speaking ahead of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Moscow earlier this week, Trump maintained that “[Russian President] Vladimir Putin is backing a person that is truly an evil person […] I think it’s very bad for Russia, I think it’s very bad for mankind, it’s very bad for this world.”
Since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict, major Western powers have repeatedly insisted on Assad’s departure, claiming that he has lost legitimacy by tackling the unrest in Syria with brutal measures.
The US and its European allies have imposed sanctions on Syria and pressured supporters of Damascus, including Russia, to compel Assad to resign.
The United States carried out a missile strike on the Shayrat airfield in response to an alleged chemical attack on a militant-held town in Idlib province the blame for which Washington immediately pinned on the Damascus government.
Washington failed to provide any proof that the Syrian government was behind the purported gas attack, with Damascus categorically denying the US accusation.
According to reports, around 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched at Shayrat military airfield in Southeast of Homs city. US military ships in the Mediterranean launched the strike on Syrian airbase, killed and wounded several civilians.
The US strike has been condemned by Tehran and Moscow, two main allies of Damascus in fight against terrorism, while the Syrian Armed Forces' General Command has also deplored US missile attack on Shayrat military airport, adding the move made clearer that the US is a partner of ISIL and Al-Nusra Front (also known as Fatah al-Sham Front or the Levant Liberation Board) terrorists in the war-hit country.
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