The Kremlin has said it does not engage in “Twitter diplomacy” after U.S. President Donald Trump used the platform to warn Russia of imminent military action in Syria, before offering to better relations.
Fears of a military confrontation between Russia and the West ran high after Trump tweeted Wednesday that U.S. missiles were “coming” following a suspected deadly chemical attack in Syria on Saturday. In a later tweet directed at Russia, Trump offered "to work together" and asked if Moscow was willing to "stop the arms race?"
“We do not participate in Twitter diplomacy,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters late on Wednesday in response to a question about Trump’s Twitter activity.
“We support serious approaches. We continue to believe that it is important not to take steps that could harm an already fragile situation,” Peskov said.
The White House later said no decisions had been made on military actions in Syria and Trump denied that his original warning indicated a timeline for an attack.
“Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” he tweeted early Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Peskov said that the Kremlin was closely following Syria-related announcements from Washington.
He said Russian and U.S. militaries maintained a so-called deconfliction communication channel to avoid potential casualties.
“The line is used and it is active. In general the line is used by both sides,” he told reporters.
Reuters contributed reporting to this article.
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