The Russian government has condemned missile strikes by the US on a Syrian airbase, saying Washington's action would "inflict major damage on US-Russia ties", according to Russian news agencies.
In its first public response to missile strikes by the US , the Kremlin on Friday issued a strong statement labelling Washington's move as "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law".
The US fired dozens of missiles at Sheyrate airbase earlier on Friday from which it said a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched this week in Syria's Idlib province.
US attacks Syrian airbase
Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the missile strikes created a "serious obstacle" to creating an international coalition to defeat ISIL and said that Russia views the strikes as an attempt to deflect world attention from civilian deaths in Iraq - where scores of people died in a series of US-led coalition air strikes in Mosul last month.
"Putin views the US strikes on Syria as aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law and on a made-up up pretext," Peskov was cited as saying.
"Washington's step will inflict major damage on US-Russia ties."
Russia has maintained that Syrian air strikes hit a depot where anti-Assad rebels were building chemical weapons - a claim the US has vigorously disputed.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaking just after the strikes were announced, said Russia had "failed in its responsibility" to deliver on a 2013 deal it helped broker to destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.
Tillerson is set to make the first visit to Russia by a Trump administration official next week.
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