Moscow on Monday slammed the United States and Britain for accusing Russia of “barbarism” and war crimes in Syria as Russian and Syrian warplanes continued to bomb rebel-held areas of Aleppo.
“We note the overall unacceptable tone and rhetoric of the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States, which can damage and harm our relations,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Moscow and Damascus were repeatedly accused of war crimes at Sunday’s emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to demand that Russia rein in its long-standing ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“In short, it is difficult to deny, that Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes,” British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said, adding that incendiary munitions “indiscriminate in their reach” were being used against Aleppo civilians.
Rycroft added that Moscow and the Syrian regime had “unleashed a new hell” on the battered Syrian city.
US Ambassador Samantha Power meanwhile accused Moscow of “barbarism”.
At least 124 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the bombardment of rebel-held eastern Aleppo since the army on Thursday announced an operation to take the country’s second city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, on Sunday accused Washington of failing to convince armed opposition groups it supports to distance themselves from the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and abide by a short-lived ceasefire brokered earlier this month by Russia and the United States.
