Russia sends warship to region amid feud with US
A Russian frigate armed with cruise missiles was heading to the Mediterranean in an apparent show of force a day after the first direct military strike by the US against the Syrian regime.
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CNN - A Russian frigate armed with cruise missiles was heading to the Mediterranean in an apparent show of force a day after the first direct military strike by the US against the Syrian regime.
Russian state media reported that the frigate, the Admiral Grigorovich, would call at a logistics base at Tartus, Syria. Russia also pledged to help strengthen Syria's air defenses after the US strike on the Shayrat airbase in western Syria.
The White House late Friday refused to say whether strike was a one-off action or part of a new strategy designed to hobble the military capabilities of President Bashar al-Assad. Nor would it say whether the US believed Assad should step down after the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun that killed at least 80 people and injured dozens more on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he was "disappointed" but "not surprised" by Russia's condemnation of the strike as a violation of international law.
Key developments
Pentagon probes possible Russia involvement in chemical attack that prompted US strike.
Up to 20 aircraft were reportedly destroyed in Friday's attack on the Shayrat base.
US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to UN says US 'prepared to do more' in Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said US strike was an "act of aggression."
The Russian frigate, the Admiral Grigorovich. The ship, which is armed with cruise missiles, was reportedly entering the Mediterranean en route to a logistics site in Syria, Russian state media said.
The state-run TASS news agency said the Russian frigate was heading for Syria after taking on supplies at the Black Sea port of Novorossi. Citing an unnamed military-diplomatic source, TASS said that its ongoing presence would depend on developments in the region but it was expected to remain in Syrian waters for more than a month.
The ship, equipped with state-of-the-art missiles, had been on exercises in the Black Sea. "This is really just a show of force, flexing muscle, Russia doing what it can to remind everyone that for the last 18 months it has had quite a deployment in Syria and the region," CNN's senior international correspondent Paula Newton reported.
NATO called it one of the largest deployments from Russia in decades.
The White House refused to discuss next steps. Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump would not "telegraph his next move." Speaking to reporters at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Spicer said the US missile attack was "very decisive, justified and proportional."
He declined to say whether Trump now believed Assad should relinquish power. "First and foremost the President believes that the Syrian government [and the] Assad regime should abide by the agreement they made not to use chemical weapons," Spicer said.
Tillerson said Russia had failed to honor an agreement to to guarantee the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons. "Clearly, Russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on that commitment from 2013, he said. "So either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement."
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