Putin condemns intervention in Syria and announces emergency UN Security Council meeting

MOSCOW, (Patria) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his first public address after Western powers launched a military intervention in Syria, his ally, said that the Americans and their allies hit both civilian and military targets and that they violated the UN Charter and international law, given that the attacks were not approved by the UN Security Council.

- This was an act of aggression against a sovereign state facing terrorism - Putin said, adding that this latest escalation of the crisis in Syria has a devastating impact on the entire system of international relations.

- History will judge in this case, just as it has already done in the case of Yugoslavia, where Washington was responsible for massacres - Putin stated, without clarifying what exactly he meant by that.

He also said that the attacks further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis raging in Syria.

- With such moves, Washington is only causing a new wave of Syrian refugees who will scatter throughout the region - he said.

Russia has called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, which will begin at 5 PM.