Hosting three-way talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem (pictured above, left), and Iranian counterpart Mohammed Dschawad Sarif (pictured above, right) in Moscow on Friday, Russian Foreign Minsiter Sergey Lavrov denounced last week's US attack on Syria and warned that any further such action would entail "grave consequences not only for regional but global security."
Read: US skips out on Afghanistan conference in Moscow
Lavrov also told al-Moualem that Russia and the US have a shared understanding that such strikes would not be repeated.
The Interfax news agency reported that the Russian diplomat revealed this had been "concluded" during Wednesday's visit of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Moscow.
US 'did not rule out any future action'
In Washington, however, the US State Department said Tillerson did not eliminate the possibility of the US maybe undertaking future strikes.
"The secretary explained there were no subsequent targets after the missile strike, but he did not rule out any future action," State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.
"He stressed that Russia is in a position to use its influence over the Assad regime to ensure it is never again necessary for the US to act," Toner said.
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US missile attack on Syrian airbase
59 Tomahawk Missiles
In April, US forces attacked a Syrian air base with cruise missiles in retaliation for a deadly chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians. The US attack killed several Syrian soldiers and almost completely destroyed the base.
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US missile attack on Syrian airbase
Syrian air base
The air base Al-Shairat looked like this before 59 Tomahawk rockets were fired at the site. US President Donald Trump said this was the base from which the poison gas attack was flown out of on Tuesday. The strike aimed to destroy airplanes as well as prevent take-offs and landings.
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US missile attack on Syrian airbase
Attack from the Mediterranean
The cruise missiles were launched from the USS Porter and USS Ross warships stationed in the Mediterranean Sea. It was the first time US forces had directly attacked government forces in the six-year civil war. Previous attacks in Syria targeted the so-called "Islamic State."
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US missile attack on Syrian airbase
Turning point for Trump
For Trump, the use of chemical weapons was a turning point in his attitude towards the Syrian conflict. After an even bigger chemical attack in August 2013, which killed several hundred people, he warned then-President Barack Obama against retaliating against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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US missile attack on Syrian airbase
Threats in the UN Security Council
"When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action," US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Wednesday, as she held up photographs of lifeless victims, including children.
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US missile attack on Syrian airbase
Targeted attack or accident?
On Tuesday morning a residential district in Chan Sheikhun in Idlib province was bombed and poison gas was released. At least 70 people died in the attack, but responsibility is still unclear.
US blames Assad regime
The US launched Tomahawk missiles at Syria's Shayrat air base near Homs last Friday, in response toa chemical attack in the northwestern Idlibprovince.
Washington has blamed Assad's government for the deadly attack which killed more than 80 people. Damascus, however, has staunchly denied the accusation.
The Syria crisis is also set to be the focus of further talks planned for Saturday between Lavrov and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
Assad's loyalists
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) suffered mass defections in the fall of 2011 to what would become the anti-Assad Free Syrian Army. The SAA is assisted by a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
The moderate wing
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to terrorist groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
The new face of terror
Taking advantage of the chaos, "Islamic State" (IS) terrorists captured vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its militant and fundamentalist brand of Islam as well as for the mass murder and torture carried out under its black flag. It established a stronghold in the Syrian city of Raqqa (pictured above).
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
An older jihad
IS is not the only terrorist group that holds sway in Syria. A number of Islamist militant groups, such as the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front, also known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, are fighting in the conflict. Warring with each other and well as with Assad and moderate rebels, al-Nusra Front merged with several other entities under the umbrella name Tahrir al-Sham in January 2017.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
A strong ally in Moscow
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to President Assad. Russian ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fired from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
The reluctant West
After denouncing Assad and tacitly supporting moderate rebels, the US and other NATO countries declined to send ground troops to assist in the Syrian conflict. However, a US-led coalition of about 60 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
The late entry
In April the US launched a missile strike against a Syrian air-base in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians. The attacked marked a sharp turn-around in US Syrian policy, with President Donald Trump long advocating against direct action against the Syrian regime.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
Security on the border
Syria's neighbors have been dragged into the conflict in the interests of their own border security. Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported moderate rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies, however, over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, some of whom support Kurdish secessionist factions within Turkey.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
The war within a war
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists in the north and west of Syria has become its own conflict. An ethnic group concentrated in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, Kurds have long sought their own homeland or autonomy within their respective countries. Turkey considers armed Kurdish fighters within its borders to be terrorists. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have also be assisting the US-led coalition.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
Proxy war
The involvement of Iran illustrates how much the Syrian conflict has become a proxy war for tensions between Iran and Russia on one side, and Turkey and the US on the other. Iran relies on Syria's friendship to maintain the balance of power in the region. Tehran has aided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training, and ground troops.
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Just who is fighting in the Syrian conflict?
No end in sight
Six years on, Syria is still divided between numerous belligerents. Many rounds of UN-brokered peace talks have failed to deliver any substantive peace deal.
Author: Elizabeth Schumacher
