Russia warns US against striking Syrian nuclear installation
Russia has warned that a US strike on Syria’s atomic facilities might result in a nuclear catastrophe and is urging the UN to present a risk analysis of such a scenario.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said a strike on a miniature reactor near Damascus or other nuclear installations could contaminate the region with radioactivity, adding: “The consequences could be catastrophic.”
He spoke as Russia prepares to host the the G20 summit in St Petersburg, which is expected to be largely dominated by the Syria crisis.
Russia’s Interfax news agency said Moscow also intends to bring up the issue at next week’s 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting.
IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said the agency is ready to “consider the questions raised” by Mr Lukashevich if it receives a formal request to do so from Moscow.
Meanwhile, China warned other world powers of the global economic risks of any US-led military intervention in Syria.
Vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao, speaking in St Petersburg, said such action “would definitely have a negative impact on the global economy, especially on the oil price”.
He cited estimates that a 10 US dollar rise in oil prices could push down global growth by 0.25%.
He urged a negotiated UN solution to the stand-off over allegations that Syria’s government used chemical weapons against its own people, expressing hope that “the world economic balance will become more stable rather than more complex and more challenging”.
US president Barack Obama is heading to St Petersburg aiming to confront Syria’s key patron, Russia, as well as fellow leaders sceptical about his call for an international military strike against Bashar Assad’s government.
The White House went out of its way to say Mr Obama would not meet one-on-one with Russian president Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, but will meet on the summit’s sidelines with the leaders of France, China and Japan.
