Responding to Moscow’s warning to shoot down any missile fired at Syria, US President Donald Trump has addressed Russia via Twitter, warning of “nice and new and smart” missiles coming to the war-torn country.

Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova took to Facebook to respond to Trump’s outburst on Twitter.

“Smart missiles must strike terrorists, not the legitimate government that has been fighting international terrorism on its territory for several years,” she wrote.

The statement comes in line with the president’s announcement made on April 9, when Trump said that his administration would make a major decision within the next 24 to 48 hours on what the United States’ response to the alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Douma, would be.

Earlier in the day, Yevgeny Serebrennikov, first deputy chairman of the Russian upper house’s Defense Committee, has warned that Russia will respond immediately if its servicemen in Syria get hit by potential US strikes.

“As the Defense Ministry has already pointed out, the Russian military bases in Hmeymim and Tartus are under firm protection. At the same time, we expect that in the event of US strikes, if any, the lives of our servicemen will not be in danger. I think that the United States understands this and will not allow it, because otherwise, Russia’s response will be immediate, as the chief of the Russian General Staff has said,” Serebrennikov said.

Media reports suggested that Trump and his advisers had been weighing a “powerful” military response to the alleged use of chlorine bomb, deeming it the only credible way to deter further chemical attacks. Turkish news agency Yeni Safak reported, citing International Relations scholar Zakariye Molahafci, that the US had designated 22 targets, including Russian sites, in Syria.

Source: Sputnik