Russia on Monday angrily condemned the downing of a Syrian aircraft by a U.S. fighter as a "flagrant violation of international law," and said its forces will treat U.S.-led coalition aircraft and drones as targets if they are operating in Syrian airspace west of the Euphrates in areas while Russian aviation is on combat missions.

The Russian defense ministry also said it is suspending an agreement to minimize the risk of in-flight incidents between Russian and U.S.-led coalition aircraft operating over Syria.

Russia, which has provided military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2015, was reacting to U.S. military confirmation that a U.S. F-18 Super Hornet shot down a Syrian SU-22 fighter-bomber on Sunday. The Syrian jet had just dropped bombs near forces known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are aligned with the U. S. military in the campaign against the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, U.S.-backed opposition fighters said that Assad's forces have been attacking their positions in the northern Raqqa province, and warned that they would take action if the attacks continue.

On Monday, the Russian defense ministry said that its warplanes had been in operation in the area of the encounter between the U.S. and Syrian jets, and said that the coalition had not used the deconflicting hotline to warn the Russian jet.

"Multiple military actions of U.S. aviation under the guise of fighting terrorism against the legal military of a state that is a member of the United Nations are a flagrant violation of international law and constitute de facto military aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic," the ministry said.

"We view these actions by the American command as a conscious failure to neglect their responsibilities within the memorandum," the ministry said.

Russia briefly suspended the 2015 memorandum of understanding on the air operations after U.S. forces fired Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base in April.

Also on Monday, a senior Russian diplomat warned that the downing of the Syrian jet was "yet another step in a direct and dangerous escalation."

"We are warning Washington not to take such actions in the future," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency.

The confrontation took place late Sunday near the central city of Tabqa, hours after Syrian government forces harassed a U.S.-backed local ground force with airstrikes.

It was the first time that the American military has shot down a Syrian warplane during the six-year conflict, and followed a series of U.S. airstrikes against Iran-backed forces advancing on partner forces in a strategically-prized swathe of land along the Iraqi border.

Outside observers said that Sunday's strike underscored a growing willingness on the part of Assad's forces to confront the U.S.-led coalition as they jostle to roll back Islamic State militants from eastern Syria.

That effort has been bolstered by the freeing up of thousands of Shiite militias that had fought in a campaign across the border to capture the city of Mosul from Islamic State militants.

"The wild card here is the logic of an Assad regime which has decided that it no longer wants to be constrained to a western Syria-based statelet," said Nicholas A. Heras, a fellow at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security.

That shift has been driven by an assessment that the Trump's administration could use the territory its forces capture as a bargaining chip with which to push Assad into a political transition or Syria into a decentralized political system, Heras added.

In Moscow, officials argued that Sunday's shoot-down was intended as a message aimed squarely at them.

Franz Klintsevich, deputy head of the defense and security committee of the Russian upper house of parliament, called the incident "an aggression and a provocation" directed at Russia.

"It looks like Donald Trumps' United States is a source of a brand-new danger both in the Middle East and the world at large," Klintsevich wrote on his Facebook page.

Another member of the upper house, Alexei Pushkov, tweeted that the incident was "a new act of war" against the Syrian government.

The upper house, the Federation Council, is a largely toothless body that essentially carries out Putin's policies with little opposition.

The reaction of Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was more muted. Russia's top diplomat said that the United States should show respect Syria's territorial integrity and that any actions on the ground "should be coordinated with Damascus."

"We call on the United States and all others who have their forces or their advisers 'on the ground' to ensure coordination in our work," the official Russian Tass news agency quoted Lavrov as saying at a meeting with the foreign ministers of Brazil, India and China in Beijing.

Putin last week said that Syria has proven to be a useful testing ground for advanced Russian weapons systems.

"It has done enormous good for our defense industry," Putin told Russians in his annual televised call-in show. "I can say that the experience our armed forces have gained under combat conditions, especially with the use of cutting-edge weapons, is invaluable." </s> The Pentagon has confirmed that US Air Force jets have targeted and hit a convoy of Syrian Arab Army soldiers along with their allies in southern Syria.

According to the United States, the Syrian and allied forces had breached a de-escalation zone inside of which US troops and its allied jihadist forces were stationed.

A statement from the US read,

This incident is extremely similar to one which occurred on the 18th of May, also in southern Syria near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders.

“Despite previous warnings, pro-regime forces entered the agreed-upon de-confliction zone with a tank, artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, armed technical vehicles and more than 60 soldiers posing a threat to the Coalition and partner forces based at the At Tanf Garrison. The Coalition issued several warnings via the de-confliction line prior to destroying two artillery pieces, an anti-aircraft weapon, and damaging a tank”.

It will be crucial to see if the Russian and Syrian version of events matches that of the US. According to initial reports, Russia attempted to get both sides to stand-down, but as it was on the 18th of May neither side listened. This is merely a sign of the fact that Russia does not seek to impose control over any troops in Syria other than its own, a long stated policy of the Russian government and Russian Defence Ministry.

During the attack on the 18th of May, the United States killed a combination of Syrian Arab Army soldiers, Hezbollah Resistance fighters and Shi’a volunteers from Iraq as well as Syria.

At that time, the Syrian Arab Republic stated that they consider a strike on allied forces equal to a strike on Syrian soldiers. This is of course correct thinking and it also affirms that America’s mere presence in addition to being illegal, allows for war crimes such as what happened today as well as on the 18th of May to occur.

Tragic and illegal though this event is, one must be cautious before thinking that such attacks are part of a larger US scheme.

The US is indeed scheme with Kurdish forces to occupy areas in the north and east of Syria, but the recent US war crimes in the south of Syria, are best understood as over-zealous local American commanders making a point that Syria still needs to perversely ‘respect’ illegal occupiers on their land.

It is not a wholesome situation to put it mildly, but it should not be confused with a more premeditated or concerted effort to engage in open combat with Syrian soldiers and their allies.

In this sense, the statement saying as much was a rare moment of honesty from the US. If one wants to know about what the US really is scheming at in Syria, one should pay attention to Raqqa and Kurdish regions, not the south.

READ MORE: US strikes on Raqqa are related to the Qatar crisis </s> [ Ed. note -Finally a top-ranking Russian official who seems to understand that Western leaders are not his “partners.” Russian General Sergei Rudskoi, as you will note in the report below, is calling US efforts at dividing Syria “utterly unacceptable.” ]

MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. The United States seeks to trigger a new large-scale all-against-all war in Syria, Head of the Main Operations Department at Russia’s General Staff Colonel General Sergei Rudskoi said at the Moscow Conference on Global Security on Wednesday.

“The United States is set to divide Syria. It has been laying potential groundwork for a new all-against-all war,” he said.

America is trying to create in Syria a quasi-state on the eastern bank of Euphrates having its own armed forces, Rudskoi assumed.

“Utterly unacceptable are the United States’ attempts at creating a quasi-state on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. We see that in these areas not only US-controlled bodies of power are being created, but their own armed forces formed,” Rudskoi told the 7th Moscow conference on International Security.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said US army units in the Syrian Democratic Forces-held part of Deir ez-Zor province “resist the restoration of Syrian government institutions.”

The United States wants to maintain a military presence in Syria in order to establish control over oil fields and divide the country, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Syrian Arab Republic Mahmoud Shawa emphasized.

“The United States decided to invent various pretexts to justify keeping the illegal presence of their bases and troops on Syrian soil with the goal of establishing control and domination over oil fields and dividing Syria through the so-called federation project,” he said.

The Syrian army and the militants

The Syrian army has destroyed about 65,000 terrorists with support from Russia and Iran during the war in its country, Rudskoi pointed out.

“The Syrian government forces have liberated a total of about 113,000 square km and 1,245 communities from illegal armed groups with support from Russia and Iran. About 65,000 militants have been destroyed,” he said at the seventh Moscow International Security Conference that is being held on April 4-5.

In addition, 6,500 hectares and about 17,200 facilities were cleared from mines in Syria by combined efforts. Security was provided for more than 260 UN aid convoys.

Filed under: AngloZionist Empire, Russia, SAA, US Foreign Policy, USA, War on Syria, Wars for Israel | </s> The decision of the US to create “border forces” on the territory under their control in Syria outright violates the UN charter and the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic, said the Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev to RIA Novosti on Sunday.

As the official representative of the US-led coalition on the fight against ISIS earlier reported to the “Defense Post” publication, the coalition started in Syria to create so-called “border forces” on the territory under their control. According to him, the coalition works together with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to create and train new Syrian border forces (SBF). Currently about 230 people are trained, the ultimate goal is to create a force of approximately 30,000 people.

“The US-led coalition is no more than a chimera, in reality no coalition exists, there is only the unilateral actions of the US supported by a number of countries, either for reasons of allied solidarity or because of obligations that arise when the appropriate military or economic assistance is received,” said the senator.

He stressed that “controlling territory” in relation to a sovereign State and a member of the UN without its consent is an “outright violation of the UN charter, international law, and the sovereignty of this State”.

And the most important thing is that unilateral and uncoordinated actions do not work in the fight against ISIS, which the Americans had to be repeatedly convinced of, since August, 2014, when for the first time they tried to conduct their own operation against terrorists, noted Kosachev.

The US’ plans for the creation of so-called border forces on the territory of Syria under their control are unacceptable, said the press secretary of the president of Turkey İbrahim Kalın on Sunday. </s> Two US military officials have responded to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defence which has been widely misreported by the mainstream media.

The section of the statement which speaks of Russia’s plans to respond to future illegal acts of aggression in Syria is as follows,

READ MORE: CONFIRMED: Russia now considers US aircrafts “targets”

Speaking for the Pentagon, Navy Captain Jeff Davis responded to the Russian statement saying,

This statement seems to imply that if the US feels threatened it could continue to attack Syrian or ostensibly Russian aircraft operating in a relatively close vicinity to US aircraft. Here too the terms relatively close are open to anyone’s interpretation, especially the US which tends to have liberal interpretations of just about everything, including geographical proximity.

The key element of this statement is the phrase, “if threatened”. This is an ambiguous term that could be used to justify attacks by US forces that could be reasonably viewed as disproportionate or downright aggressive. In all cases, such attacks on Syrian or allied forces IN SYRIA would be illegal according to international law.

America invoked the word ‘threatened’ to justify recent attacks on Syrian and allied military convoys in southern Syria near the illegal garrison the US has erected in At-Tanf.

In reality, these attacks were on convoys who were pursuing ISIS. The convoys were comprised of Syrians, moving within Syria and yet the United States felt that their garrison filled with their proxy jihadists was ‘threatened’.

The phrase ‘acting as though one is above the law’ is tailor made for such a scenario.

In each instance where the US attacked Syrian and allied convoys near At-Tanf, American officials stated that they had no desire to fire on Syrian troops, but paradoxically would do so if they felt threatened.

A similar sentiment was uttered in respect of America responding to the Russian Defence Ministry statement by Colonel Ryan Dillon, chief U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.

This statement would appear to imply that American forces will try to avoid Russian and Syrian aircraft whilst continuing to pursue its own pro-Kurdish style of ‘fighting ISIS’, something which reflects an unspoken agreement between Russia and the US whereby the Syrian-Iranian-Russian sphere of influence will consist of Syria west of the Euphrates while the US and Kurds will essentially dominate/occupy Syrian regions east of the Euphrates.

As the Russian Defence Ministry Statement only said that Russia could shoot-down non-allied aircraft west of the Euphrates, the statements from both Russia and the US would both imply that the silent understanding has held, in spite of America’s illegal downing of a Syrian jet.

The details of this unspoken agreement was laid out in The Duran by Alexander Mercouris.

READ MORE: Following US shoot down of Syrian fighter chess game in eastern Syria turns bloody

Turning back to remarks from Jeff Davis, he further stated,

Although Davis’s initial remarks may appear more strongly worded than Dillon’s, both men are essentially saying the same thing.

They are both saying that the US will re-position its aircraft aka, fly further away from where the Syrian led coalition (which includes Russia and Iran) operates while continuing to work with Russia to avoid further conflicts.

Reports based on these statements saying anything to the contrary are at best sensationalist and at worse fake news.

However, because Davis leaves open the possibility for America to still shoot at Syrian coalition aircraft(including Russian aircraft) if the US is “threatened”, there is something of an open page on what America is actually planning.

In reality, America is probably trying to save face. America cannot look like the junior super-power in Syria to the wider public. That being said, in spite of being far more aggressive than Russia in respect of military bombast, in terms of overall control of the situation in Syria and in terms of the wider geo-political situation surrounding Syria, America is the junior super-power. The master of events in Syria is Russia and this is the real reason America is both angry and afraid. </s> five people, presumably Russian citizens, could have been killed

The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the death of five Russian nationals in the US-led coalition's strike in Syria, but their citizenship has yet to be verified."According to preliminary data, as a result of the armed conflict, the reasons for which are now being clarified,. There are also injured people, but all this requires verification - in particular, first of all, their citizenship - whether they are all citizens of Russia or other countries," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing.According to Zakharova, reports of hundreds of Russian citizens killed in the airstrike are "disinformation" by anti-government forces."Claims about the deaths of dozens and hundreds of Russian citizens are classic misinformation. There are not 400, not 200, not 100 and not ten [of them killed as a result of the US-led coalition's airstrike]," she emphasized."Among the first to spread this information within their channels were Syrian anti-government militants, who for some reason took a photo of the surface of Mars, put on it an image of destroyed military equipment, perhaps even Ukrainian, dated June 2014."The spokeswoman emphasized that there were many people of different nationalities in Syria's conflict zones.The purposes for their stay in war zones are different, including participation in hostilities," Zakharova said, noting that it was hard to trace all of them.Last week, US Central Command announced that the coalition conducted what it described as "defensive airstrikes" against pro-government forces near the Euphrates River as a response to an alleged attack against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) headquarters.Damascus has slammed the attack as "a new act of aggression that constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity," while the Russian Defense Ministry said that the attack showcased that the real goal behind Washington's "illegal military presence in Syria" was control over the country's economic assets rather than defeating Daesh.Later, media reports emerged, alleging that a large number of Russian "mercenaries" had been killed in airstrikes. So far, the death of one Russian citizen Kiril Ananyev from an activist group "Another Russia" has been reported by the organization's coordinator.When asked to comment on the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that he didn't rule out that Russian nationals, who do not belong to the Russian Armed Forces, could be in Syria.Earlier in the day, he emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not make any decisions to classify any information regarding Russian nationals in Syria. </s> The Russian Defense Ministry announced it is halting cooperation with its US counterparts in the framework of the Memorandum on the Prevention of Incidents and Ensuring Air Safety in Syria following the coalition’s downing of a Syrian warplane.

The ministry has demanded a thorough investigation by the US military command into the incident with the Syrian government military jet, with the results to be shared with the Russian side.

“In the areas of combat missions of Russian air fleet in Syrian skies, any airborne objects, including aircraft and unmanned vehicles of the [US-led] international coalition, located to the west of the Euphrates River, will be tracked by Russian ground and air defense forces as air targets,” the Russian Ministry of Defense stated.

Downing the military jet within Syrian airspace “cynically” violates the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic, Russian military said.

The actions of the US Air Force are in fact “military aggression” against Syria, the statement adds.

The ministry emphasized that Russian warplanes were on a mission in Syrian airspace during the US-led coalition’s attack on the Syrian Su-22, while the coalition failed to use the communication line to prevent an incident.

“The command of the coalition forces did not use the existing communication channel between the air commands of Al Udeid Airbase (in Qatar) and the Khmeimim Airbase to prevent incidents in Syrian airspace.”

The ministry considers the move “a conscious failure to comply with the obligations under the Memorandum on the Prevention of Incidents and Ensuring Air Safety in Syria,” and is thus halting cooperation with the US within the memorandum framework as of June 19, the statement concluded.

Earlier Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov condemned the attack, branding it an act of aggression which actually helped the terrorists the US is fighting against.

The US-led coalition downed the Syrian government warplane on Sunday. At the moment of the attack the jet was carrying out operations against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) some 40km from Raqqa, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The pilot ejected from the plane above IS-controlled territory and is still missing. </s> Syrians walk through the rubble following an air strike on the regime-controlled neighbourdhood of Karm Al Jabal on Sunday (AFP photo)

MOSCOW/BEIRUT — Moscow stepped up its war of words with Washington on Sunday, saying air strikes by a US-led coalition on the Syrian army threatened the implementation of a US-Russian ceasefire plan for Syria and bordered on connivance with Daesh.

The diplomatic row heated up on the last day of a seven-day ceasefire marred by a surge of violence as warplanes hit the strategic northern city of Aleppo for the first time since the truce came into effect.

On Saturday, the Russian defence ministry said US jets had killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor in four air strikes by two F-16 and two A-10 fighter jets coming from the direction of Iraq.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group with contacts across Syria, cited a military source at Deir Ezzor airport as saying at least 90 Syrian soldiers had been killed.

Russia's foreign ministry denounced the US position on the incident as "unconstructive and inarticulate".

"The actions of coalition pilots — if they, as we hope, were not taken on an order from Washington — are on the boundary between criminal negligence and connivance with Islamic State [Daesh] terrorists," it said in a strongly worded statement.

"We strongly urge Washington to exert the needed pressure on the illegal armed groups under its patronage to implement the ceasefire plan unconditionally. Otherwise the implementation of the entire package of the US-Russian accords reached in Geneva on September 9 may be jeopardised."

Russia, which along with Iran supports Syrian President Bashar Assad, has called on the United States to press units of the moderate Syrian opposition to separate themselves from Daeshand other "terrorist groups".

Iran also condemned the US military action. "Such moves indicate America supports terrorist groups in Syria," a foreign ministry spokesman said, according to Iranian news agencies.

The US military said the coalition stopped the attacks against what it believed to be Daesh positions in northeast Syria after Russia informed it that Syrian military personnel and vehicles may have been hit.

"The White House is defending Daesh. Now there can be no doubts about that," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in comments aired by state TV.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said Zakharova should be embarrassed by that claim. Russia’s UN representative Vitaly Churkin said Russia had no “specific evidence” of the US colluding with Daesh militants.

The diplomatic row should further complicate humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria, including its largest pre-war city Aleppo where the fragile truce has been repeatedly violated.

The UN told Reuters that aid trucks that had been due to move to Aleppo on Sunday morning were once again being delayed.

Russia’s defence ministry said conditions in Syria were deteriorating as fighting escalated in parts of the country where the ceasefire, set to expire late on Sunday, should apply.

Aleppo was hit by air strikes for the first time since the truce began. Moscow said militants there were preparing for large-scale military actions against Syria’s army.

Heavy clashes continued on Sunday east of Damascus in the rebel-held Jobar suburb, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a witness said.

The Al Rahman Legion, part of a Free Syrian Army rebel alliance there, said its fighters had destroyed a government tank and killed soldiers after government forces tried to storm Jobar for the second time this week.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, at least eight people died and many were seriously injured when helicopters dropped barrel bombs onto a town in a rebel-held part of the southern Syrian province of Daraa on Sunday.

Insurgents say they only reluctantly accepted the initial deal to relieve the dire humanitarian situation in besieged areas they control, and blamed Russia for undermining the truce.

“The truce ... will not hold out,” a senior rebel official in Aleppo said.

Rebels have also accused Russia of using the ceasefire to give the Syrian army and allied Shiite militias a chance to regroup and deploy forces ready for their own offensives.

Daesh is excluded from the truce. Separate US-led, Damascus-led and Turkey-backed operations against the militants have continued throughout the ceasefire on various fronts.

One Turkish soldier and six Syrian rebels were wounded on Sunday in clashes with Daesh near the Syrian border town of Al Rai as Turkey-backed Syrian rebels pushed south towards the Daesh-held town of Al Bab, Turkey’s Dogan News agency reported.

Ahmed Osman, commander of the Sultan Murad rebel group, said the rebels had advanced south and west of Al Rai but could not say when they might reach Al Bab. “Yesterday we took two villages only, today five,” he told Reuters.

Turkey hit Daesh targets within Syria with warplanes, according to Dogan, Osman and the observatory.

On Sunday, Daesh said it had shot down a warplane in Deir Ezzor with “anti-aircraft” guns, in the same area as the US-led coalition strikes hit the Syrian military on Saturday.

The Syrian military confirmed the loss of a warplane it said was carrying out an operation against rebels. </s> Vladimir Putin has signed an order to have Russia withdrawn from the International Criminal Court (ICC) amid calls for his military to be referred over air strikes backing President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the annexation of Crimea.

The President instructed Russia's foreign ministry to notify the United Nations of the country's refusal to be subject to the body's activity on Wednesday, following the same move by Gambia, South Africa and Burundi.

State media reported that the government was pulling out of the 2002 Rome Statute, which establishes the International Criminal Court's status and powers, although the Kremlin never ratified the agreement it signed in 2000.

We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

“The International Criminal Court has not justified hopes placed upon it and did not become a truly independent and authoritative judicial body,” a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry said.

A statement claimed that Russia "consistently advocates that people guilty of grave offences must be held accountable" and took part in developing laws against genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Francois Hollande, the President of France, called suggested that Russia should face war crimes charges over its bombardment of rebel-held eastern Aleppo last month.

“These are people who today are the victims of war crimes,” he told French television amid hundreds of reported civilian deaths.

“Those that commit these acts will have to face up to their responsibility, including in the ICC.”

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria 1/19 Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty 2/19 Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP 3/19 Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty 4/19 Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP 5/19 Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty 6/19 Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters 7/19 A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters 8/19 Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters 9/19 Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters 10/19 Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria 11/19 The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria 12/19 Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP 13/19 Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit 14/19 Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria Â© TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis 15/19 Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed 16/19 A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria 17/19 A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit 18/19 Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria 19/19 Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps Â© TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis 1/19 Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty 2/19 Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP 3/19 Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty 4/19 Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP 5/19 Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty 6/19 Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters 7/19 A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters 8/19 Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters 9/19 Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters 10/19 Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria 11/19 The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria 12/19 Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP 13/19 Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit 14/19 Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria Â© TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis 15/19 Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed 16/19 A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria 17/19 A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit 18/19 Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria 19/19 Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps Â© TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

It was the latest call parties in the conflict to be prosecuted by the ICC, after Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to refer the Assad regime in 2014.

Both Russian and Syria have denied deliberately killing civilians or breaking international law in the Syrian civil war, saying they are targeting terrorist groups.

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued an appeal to all countries attempting to withdraw from the ICC on Wednesday.

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He said those making the attempt were seeking to “desert victims of the most abominable international crimes” and could not claim their action was based on principle.

“If the State Parties, who apparently have been masquerading in recent years as countries devoted to criminal accountability, want to leave, then they should leave,” Mr al-Hussein added.

“But we are not convinced their position is based entirely on principle. Quite the opposite: it appears to aim more at protecting their leaders from prosecution.”

The commissioner said there was “no substitute” for the ICC, which he hopes will be eventually accepted universally.

“By withdrawing from the Rome Statute, leaders may shield themselves with immunities – but it will be at the cost of depriving their people of the protection of a unique and essential institution,” he warned.

“We face a choice. We can safeguard our societies by standing firm on the principles of justice which anchor this institution.

“Or we can cast away the moorings of law laid down to save the world from horror – and turn away from the screams, as impunity overwhelms men, women and children in wave upon wave of violence.”

The ICC is intended to prosecute and bring to justice those responsible for the worst violations of international law - genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

But far only African defendants have been put on trial and a number of countries including the US, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Turkey have not signed the treaty.

Like Russia - Egypt, Iran and Israel signed but failed to ratify the agreement, making it unlikely their governments could ever be prosecuted by the court.
Syria and the Russian Federation once again state that the United States' military presence in Syria is "illegal". United States and US-backed forces now have control of about a quarter of Syrian territory.