After US missile strikes, can Tillerson find common ground with Russia in Syria?
US strategy to defeat Islamic State in play as secretary of state heads to Moscow and UN secretary-general calls for restraint.
The prospect of US-Russian cooperation to defeat the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda in Syria, a top priority of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, may be on life support following US missile strikes on a Syrian air base April 7.
In a letter to US congressional leadership April 8, President Trump said the purpose of the missile strikes on Syria’s Shayrat air base was “to degrade the Syrian military's ability to conduct further chemical weapons attacks and to dissuade the Syrian regime from using or proliferating chemical weapons.”
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned that the United States is “prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary.”
Following the US missile attacks, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed “for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people.”
