UPDATE - Russia calls on US not to repeat Syria strike

ADDS PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN MEETING WITH US SECRETARY OF STATE

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Wednesday insisted that the U.S. should not carry out further attacks against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

Speaking at the start of a meeting in Moscow with a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Lavrov said: “We consider it fundamentally important to prevent the risk of recurrence of such events in the future.”

Last week, the U.S. responded to a chemical attack on civilians by Assad forces by launching missiles against a regime air base thought to have been used in the attack, which killed at least 100 civilians.

The U.S. attack raised tensions between Moscow and Washington. Russia is a major ally of Assad with troops stationed in the country and the U.S. has suggested Russia may have known about the chemical attack in advance.

The Kremlin has said it regarded the U.S. strike as an “act of aggression” against a sovereign state carried out in violation of international law under a “far-fetched pretext”.

In comments reported by the TASS news agency, Lavrov said Tillerson’s visit was “very timely”. He added that Russia hoped to clarify the possibility of dialogue with the U.S.

It is the first visit by a member of President Donald Trump’s administration to Russia.

Lavrov said it was important for Russia to understand the “real” intentions of the U.S. government. Tillerson said he hoped for an “open and frank” dialogue with Lavrov.

President Vladimir Putin received Lavrov and Tillerson at the Kremlin Palace, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters later.

Peskov gave no details of what they discussed.

Later the top Russian and U.S. diplomats are expected to hold a news conference.