The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova issued a dare to US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power after the American envoy condemned Russia for calling an emergency meeting over the deaths of 80 Syrian Army forces at the hands of US-led coalition bombing in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
US Central Command issued an early statement on Saturday following the airstrikes acknowledging that coalition forces were responsible for the deaths, but suggested that Russia was partly to blame because the coalition allegedly warned Moscow of the intent to strike the Deir Ez-Zor area. Russia immediately denied the claim saying that the United States failed to provide warning as rhetoric escalated.
On Saturday afternoon, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman raised heads when she suggested that the United States must be "defending the Islamic State terrorists" as the only plausible explanation for the strike which was subsequently followed by a major offensive by Daesh jihadists.
Samantha Power took to the United Nations not to express regret for the deaths, but to fire back against Russia and the Assad regime calling the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council a "stunt" and a "game" while blasting Russia for "grandstanding" and accusing Moscow of "bombing civilians."
The aggressive statement by Power, coming only hours after the bombing left so many Syrian Army soldiers dead due to an admitted accident by the United States, an attack that also violated the ceasefire agreement and threatened its further existence, was met by a powerful retort by Zakharova.
"Dear Samantha Power, in order to know the meaning of the word ‘embarrassed.’ I highly encourage you to travel to Syria and talk to the people there for yourself," began Zakharova.
"By that I do not mean the al-Nusra militants, nor the moderate opposition, whose humanitarian situation Washington seems to be so worried about. I likewise am not referring to the Western warriors for justice for Syria. I’m referring to the actual people who continue to live there in spite of the bloody experiment that has been waged on their homeland for over six years, with active participation by Washington," she continued.
"Let’s go there together. Do say yes. Don’t be frightened. Nobody will lay a finger on you in my presence. Unless, of course, your guys don’t again 'mistakenly' strike the wrong target. You’ll make lots of new memories and find out what ‘embarrassed’ means in the process."
The Syrian ceasefire went into effect earlier this week, but many now question whether the breakthrough deal will be short-lived.
