Russia says Donald Trump is ‘one step away from war’ over Syria

Russia has claimed yesterday’s US missile strike on Syria was illegal and warned the US was "one step away" from war.

Standing firm, the Trump administration signalled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled Mr Trump to action.

The attack against a Syrian air base was the first US assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.

Much of the international community rallied behind Trump’s decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to this week’s chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of men, women and children in Syria.

But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt "a significant blow" to relations between Moscow and Washington.

At the United Nations, Russia’s deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, strongly criticised what he called the US "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression" whose "consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious."

Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev claimed Trump had been "one step away from military clashes with Russia".

It came as the US ambassador to the United Nations said that the US was prepared to take further action in Syria.

Nikki Haley told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council overnight that the US couldn’t wait following the gas attack and "took a very measured step last night" with its air strikes against the Assad government.

"We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary," she said.

"It is time for all civilised nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution."

And US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has told reporters that he plans to announce additional economic sanctions aimed at Syria in the near future.

"We expect that those (sanctions) will continue to have an important effect on preventing people from doing business with them," Mnuchin said.

"These sanctions are very important and we will use them the maximum effect."

White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that the US air strikes were the result of a "72-hour evolution."

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had only said days before that Syria was a matter for the Syrian people to decide.

Mr Trump was offered a variety of options for a US response from his Cabinet and members of his national security team, said Mr Spicer.

He gave the green light on the missile strike ahead of dinner with China’s President Xi Jinping.

Dozens of innocent people were killed in the suspected chemical attack on Tuesday.

Mr Tillerson said on Thursday that the US feels confident Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government was behind the attack and that sarin gas was apparently used.

In contrast, Russia’s UN envoy has accused the US of violating international law by carrying out the military strikes in Syria.

"The United States attacked the territory of sovereign Syria. We describe that attack as a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression," Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told the Security Council.

The UN meeting was called by Bolivia, which has also branded the US cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base a violation of international law.

France and Britain said the US response was "appropriate" following the deaths of 86 people, including 27 children, in a suspected chemical attack on Tuesday, and laid the blame on Assad.

As the UN Security Council meeting was going on, reports indicated that the Russian Navy sent its most advanced Black Sea frigate into the Eastern Mediterranean.

USNI News reports that guided missile frigate Admiral Grigorovich - based in Sevastopol, Crimea - passed through the Bosporus Strait and into the Mediterranean.

It came as the Russian military said it will help Syria beef up its air defences.

At least seven soldiers were killed in the US air strike.

Russia said President Vladimir Putin saw the missile strike as "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law".

The Kremlin claimed it has created a "serious obstacle" against forming an international coalition to fight terrorism.

Reports had indicated that Russia had hung up a hotline aimed at preventing midair collisions in Syria.

However, senior US military officials contradicted Moscow’s claims that it has suspended the "deconfliction" talks in protest of the US air strikes.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that a "complex of measures" to strengthen Syrian air defences will be done shortly to help "protect the most sensitive Syrian infrastructure facilities."

Mr Konashenkov said "the combat efficiency of the US strike was very low," adding that only 23 of the 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles reached the Shayrat air base in the province of Homs.

He said it destroyed six MiG-23 fighter jets of the Syrian air force which were under repairs, but didn’t damage other Syrian warplanes at the base.

Mr Konashenkov added that the base’s runway also has been left undamaged.

The UN co-ordinator for humanitarian affairs says it has no sign that US military strikes against a Syrian air base have had "any direct consequence" on overall aid operations in Syria.

Jens Laerke of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said such violence "is not a new feature" of Syria’s war, and cited continued UN-led efforts to reach people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas of the country.

Nine planes as well as munition and fuel depots were destroyed in the US strike on Syria’s Shayrat air base early on Friday but the runway was intact, the Russian state channel Rossiya24 reported from the scene.

"According to preliminary information, nine Syrian airplanes were destroyed," its correspondent said in a report from the base.

Stores with ammunition and fuel were also targeted, he said, adding that a fire and some explosions were ongoing.

"But not all equipment has been destroyed, there is some that was not impacted by the strike," the correspondent said.

"The landing strip ... is practically not impacted," he added.

Footage showed the runway intact but covered in debris, as well as two planes sitting in concrete hangars.

The aircraft were apparently not heavily damaged while some other hangars were charred and surrounded by rubble.

Shocking images of tiny bodies struck down by poison and a father staggering under the weight of his murdered children prompted the US to launch its first direct military action in Syria.

A day after warning this week’s "heinous" chemical attack by government forces on a rebel-held town was a "disgrace to humanity", Mr Trump deployed dozens of Tomahawk missiles from two US destroyers.

The decisive strike, six years into a civil war in which the Russian-backed dictator Bashar al-Assad is accused of orchestrating tens of thousands of deaths, was engineered for maximum political impact.

Mr Trump was hours into hosting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his Florida golf estate in a high stakes summit dogged by growing tension in both the Middle East and Asia.

Speaking shortly after the strikes, Mr Trump called on "all civilised nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria".

"Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched," he said, from Mar a Lago.

"There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violating its obligations under the chemical weapons convention and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council.

"Years of previous attempts of changing Assad’s behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically. As a result the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilise, threatening the United States and its allies.

"It is in this vital national security of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."

US officials said multiple targets were struck by cruise missiles launched from the destroyers USS Ross and USS Porter in the Mediterranean Sea.

The 59 Tomahawk missiles were aimed at fighter jets and infrastructure at the base.

The Pentagon said the attack -- shortly after 3.30am local time -- was timed to avoid mass casualties.

Russia had been warned of the strike, according to the Pentagon.

"Military planners took precautions to minimise risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield," a spokesman said.

He said the targets included "hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defence systems and radars."

The strike was immediately condemned by Syria as an "act of aggression", while it was welcomed by nations including Australia, Israel and some US politicians.

Mr Trump acted without Congressional approval and the strike just 72 hours after Tuesday’s attack contrasted starkly with that of his predecessor Barack Obama, who had considered and then dismissed the notion of military intervention after a similar 2013 chemical attack in Syria.

His actions, a day after he was visibly moved by images of civilians killed in the chemical attack, also marked a dramatic shift in policy for his new administration, which had until this week stated it would not intervene in Syria.

At least 40,000 people have been killed and 11 million refugees have been created in Syria’s civil war, according to the United Nations.

Five million have left the country, with a further six million displaced within Syria.

The Assad regime has denied it dropped the chemical weapons, widely believed to be a nerve agent such as sarin gas.

Russia also argued the mass-poisoning was sparked by an air strike on a rebel-held weapons dump which included chemical weapons.

However these claims have been dismissed by the US and allies including Australia.