White House: Russia ‘responsible’ for strike on Syrian aid convoy

by Jordan Fabian - 09/20/16 7:05 PM ET

The White House said Tuesday that it holds Russia responsible for an airstrike that took out a humanitarian aid convoy in Syria.

{mosads}“There only could have been two entities responsible, the Syrian regime or the Russian government,” deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly.

“In any event, we hold the Russian government responsible for airstrikes in this space,” Rhodes added, saying that it was Moscow’s duty under a ceasefire agreement to halt bombings in areas where humanitarian aid was flowing.

The incident drew international condemnation and is the latest shocking example of violence in Syria’s five-year civil war.

Russia has denied responsibility for the airstrike, which killed an aid worker and destroyed a convoy delivering relief supplies to besieged western Aleppo.

But U.S. intelligence believes Russia was behind the strike. Two Russian warplanes were spotted in the sky at the exact time the 31-vehicle convoy was struck, according to Reuters.

At the time of the strike, a U.S.-Russia negotiated ceasefire between Syrian government forces and rebel groups had already all but collapsed.

But Rhodes refused to say whether the convoy strike was the final nail in the coffin of the agreement.

“We need to continue to determine whether or not the cessation of hostilities can continue, the preference is that it can,” he said.

“That does’t mean we’re not significantly concerned by the complete failure to show good faith on the Russian side.”