Trump strikes on Syria: How world leaders reacted

Two US warships fired 59 cruise missiles from at the Syrian airbase controlled by the forces of President al-Assad

The United States on Friday fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase from which it said a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched this week, an escalation of the US military role in Syria that immediately raised tension with Russia.
Just hours after US President Donald Trump announced he had ordered the attack, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strike had seriously damaged ties between Washington and Moscow.
Two US warships fired 59 cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean Sea at the Syrian airbase controlled by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in response to a poison gas attack in a rebel-held area on Tuesday, US officials said.
Below are the reactions of World leaders to Donald Trump's decision to air strike Syria with missiles.

United Kingdom

 The UK government on Friday said it "fully supports" the US missile strike against an air base in Syria in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack that killed over 80 people, including children.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said Prime Minister Theresa May had been "informed throughout" but the UK was not asked to take part, the BBC reported.

He described the strike as "limited" and "wholly appropriate".

Fifty-nine Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from two US Navy ships in the Mediterranean on Thursday night. Six people were killed, according to the Syrian army.

US President Donald Trump said the US missile strike targeted the base which was the launch point for this attack.

Fallon told the BBC Radio that the UK government had had close discussions with the US over the past few days "at all levels" and had "reviewed the various options they were considering".

The US strike had "targeted the airfield, the aircraft the support equipment that were involved, the Americans believe, in this gas attack and is designed to deter the regime from planning similar gas attacks," Fallon said.

"The Americans have made it very clear the attack last night was limited, was narrowly focused, they did everything possible to minimise Syrian casualties, indeed to involve Russian personnel on that particular airfield."

The Defence Secretary said there would have to be a vote in Parliament before the UK got involved in any military action.

In 2013, UK MPs rejected strikes against Syrian government forces in a vote.

Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the US strike on a Syrian airbase early this morning as "aggression against a sovereign state," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, according to Russian agencies.
"President Putin considers American strikes on Syria aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international norms, and under an invented pretext," Peskov was reported as saying.
Russia says it's suspending a deal with the US to prevent mid-air collisions over Syria in response to the US strike on a Syrian air base.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in Friday's statement that Moscow is suspending a memorandum with the US to prevent incidents and ensure flight safety.
Under the memorandum, signed after Russia launched an air campaign in Syria in September 2015, Russia and the US had exchanged information about their flights to avoid incidents in the crowded skies over Syria.
Russia has several dozen warplanes and batteries of air-defense missiles at its base in Syria.

Israel

Israel's president says the US strike on Syria was an "appropriate response" to the "unthinkable brutality" of the chemical attacks in Syria this week that killed dozens of civilians.
Reuven Rivlin said Friday the US "serves as an example to the entire free world" to support steps to end atrocities in Syria.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said President Trump sent a message that "war crimes" by Syrian President Bashar Assad will not be tolerated.
The country's opposition leader Isaac Herzog told Channel 10 TV that he doesn't believe the strike will impact Israel.
Israel has repeatedly warned against "game-changing" weapons reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon from Syria, which along with Iran supports the militant group. It has carried out a number of airstrikes on suspected weapon convoys en route to Hezbollah.

Germany and France

The leaders of Germany and France say President Bashar Assad brought American missile strikes upon himself by using chemical weapons.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said in a joint statement Friday after talking on the phone that "President Assad alone carries responsibility for these developments" with his "repeated use of chemical weapons and his crimes against his own people."
The two leaders said their countries would continue to work with United Nations partners in "efforts to hold President Assad responsible for his criminal acts."
They called upon the international community to "join forces for a political transition in Syria" in accordance with the UN resolution.
French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen says US President Donald Trump is trying to be the "world's policeman" with airstrikes on Syria and is suggesting that it could backfire.
Le Pen has expressed support for Syrian President Bashar Assad in the past, and said on France-2 television Friday that she was "surprised" by Trump's sudden move.
Le Pen said that Trump indicated he would not make the US "the world's policeman, and that's exactly what he did yesterday." She warned that past international interventions in Iraq and Libya have led to rising Islamic extremism.
Le Pen appeared to be distancing herself from Trump. The two have similar views and Le Pen is hoping to ride a wave of protectionist, anti-immigrant sentiment to the presidency next month.

Turkey

Turkey has welcomed the US missile strike on Syria, saying it was an "important and meaningful" development but called for a continued tough stance against President Bashar Assad that would render him "no longer able to harm his people."
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in a live television interview Friday: "It is imperative that the Assad regime is fully punished by the international community."
"We see the (air strikes) as positive, but we believe that this should be completed," Kurtulmus said. "The Assad regime's barbarism must immediately be stopped."
Kurtulmus added that he hoped the US action would help accelerate peace efforts in Syria.
Turkey is a strong opponent of Syrian President Bashar Assad and has backed the Syrian opposition fighting against him.

Japan

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed support for the US missile attack on a Syrian government-controlled air base.
Abe on Friday said Japan understood and supported the US strategy, saying the strikes were "a means to prevent further deterioration of the situation" referring to the suspected chemical attack earlier in Syria this week.
About 60 US Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat air base, southeast of Homs, a small installation with two runways, where aircraft often take off to bomb targets in northern and central Syria.

Indonesia

Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it's concerned by unilateral foreign actions in Syria including the US attack on a Syrian government air base on Thursday night.
Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said Indonesia rejects the use of chemical weapons for any purpose and condemns a chemical weapons attack in Syria earlier this week that killed dozens of civilians.
But it did not praise President Donald Trump's retaliation against the government of Syria's President Bashar Assad.
Nasir says, "We are also very concerned by unilateral actions that have been taken by many parties including the recent launch of Tomahawks in response to the use of chemical weapons."

Iran

Iran has condemned the US missile strike on Syria, saying the "unilateral action is dangerous, destructive and violates the principles of international law."
That's according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi. He made the comments in a report carried Friday by the semi-official ISNA news agency.
Iran is one of the biggest supporters of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad. Its hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is deeply involved in the war. America's Sunni Arab allies in the Gulf view Syria as a proxy conflict between it and Shiite power Iran.
Ghasemi described Iran as "the biggest victim of chemical weapons in recent history," referencing Iraqi use of the weapons during its 1980s war with the Islamic Republic. He said Iran condemned the missile launch "regardless of the perpetrators and the victims" of Tuesday's chemical weapons attack in Syria.
He also warned it would "strengthen terrorists" and further add to "the complexity of the situation in Syria and the region."

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is praising the "courageous decision" by US President Donald Trump to launch missile strikes on Syria over a deadly chemical weapons attack.
A statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency on Friday firmly blames the government of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad for the chemical weapons attack.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the missile launch by Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."
Saudi Arabia is a longtime opponent of Assad and has supported the rebels fighting against him. It also views the long-running war as a proxy conflict between it and its Middle East archrival, Iran.

Australia

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says the "Australian government strongly supports the swift and just response of the United States" in launching a rocket attack on a Syrian air base.
He tells reporters in Sydney on Friday: "This was a calibrated, proportionate and targeted response. It sends a strong message to the Assad regime, and ... has been struck at the very airfield from which the chemical attack was delivered."
"But we are not at war with the Assad regime and the United States have made it clear that they are not seeking to overthrow the Assad regime," he added.

NATO

Syria is to blame for the US missile strikes carried out after a deadly suspected chemical attack on a rebel-held town earlier this week, NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.
"The Syrian regime bears the full responsibility for this development," Stoltenberg said in a statement.
"Any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, cannot go unanswered, and those responsible must be held accountable," he added.

• MENA