New York // With several thousand Russian troops, air defence systems and aircraft in Syria, US commanders knew they could not risk a confrontation with a nuclear-armed ally of Bashar Al Assad.
As they prepared their Tomahawk missile strikes they used a dedicated “deconfliction line” to warn Russian officers of what was to come minutes later.
“We sought no approval – we sought no approval from Moscow or at any other level within the Russian infrastructure,” said Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump’s secretary of state, in a briefing in the immediate aftermath.
“This was strictly following the rules that we have put in place in agreement with the Russian military to de-conflict, because our target in this attack was not Russian.”
Even so, Russian condemnation followed swiftly, accusing the US of violating international law and promising to reinforce Syrian air defences.
The diplomatic escalation suggests a cooling of any US-Russia detente as the new president confronts the reality of governing.
But analysts said Russian anger was likely designed to halt further American action, rather than signalling the start of a new Cold War.
A Kremlin statement spelled out the level of fury.
“President 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,” it said.
“This step by Washington will inflict major damage on US-Russia ties.”
Officials immediately announced a string of retaliatory measures, including ending their use of the deconfliction line (the Pentagon privately said it remained open) and bolstering air defences, which already include S-400 and S-300 surface-to-air missiles.
The communications channel was set up in September 2015 when Russia began its bombing campaign in Syria. It allows US commanders at the Combined Air and Space Operations Centre at the vast Al Udeid airbase in Qatar to stay in touch with their Russian counterparts in Syria.
They share coordinates and other data to avoid collisions or confrontations.
The moves are a reminder that Moscow views Syria as its key to the Middle East. The country is also home to a permanent naval base in Tartus, Russia’s only Mediterranean facility.
At the same time, the launch of 59 cruise missiles will be seen as a signal to Russia – as well as North Korea, China and Iran – that Mr Trump is prepared to use force.
It is all a far cry from Mr Trump’s presidential campaign, during which he was accused of seeking a “bromance” with the Russian leader.
He frequently suggested an alliance with Moscow to fight the rise of ISIL and praised Mr Putin as the sort of leader with whom he would get along.
Since then it has emerged that Russia launched a cyberhacking and social media campaign designed to help Mr Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in the election. Now his administration is under scrutiny for evidence of any collusion with Moscow’s efforts to swing the outcome.
Analysts said the latest exchanges over Syria mark something of a return to business as usual.
Ian Bremmer, president of the global risk consulting firm Eurasia Group, said the US establishment was encouraged by the strikes while Russia was unhappy.
“First time that’s happened with Trump foreign policy,” he wrote on Twitter.
However, many were sceptical that the missile strikes would cause an irreversible break. They pointed out that Mr Putin did not deliver his condemnation on camera, suggesting his comments were designed for domestic consumption rather than to trigger a major escalation of hostilities.
Shashank Joshi, senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said he expected the deconfliction measures to resume in due course.
“Trump doesn’t want regime change or a major land war in Syria,” he said. “Russia doesn’t want major confrontation, and realises that American goals are limited.
“Part of it is posturing to make sure that the US doesn’t get any ideas of going further.”
Russia also demanded an emergency meeting of the United Nations ceasefire task force in Geneva to discuss the attack on Syria, according to the state-run RIA news agency.
In a further sign of growing impatience with Russia, Mr Tillerson accused Moscow of being partly to blame for the gas attack on Tuesday that triggered the US strikes, accusing it of failing to follow through on a 2013 deal to oversee the removal of chemical weapons from Syria.
“So either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement,” he said.
Mr Tillerson will carry that message to Moscow on Tuesday, when a pre-arranged visit will take on added urgency.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
