Russia, U.S. Near Brink in a Syrian Standoff With Nuclear Risks
- Trump pauses on military action amid talks with Europe allies
- Direct clash could ‘escalate to nuclear level’: Russian expert
Syrian rescue teams clear the rubble in the morning of April 10, 2018 at the site of an explosion of unknown origin which wrecked a multi-storey building the previous night in the war-battered country's northwestern city of Idlib.
Photographer: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images
Russia has spent years testing state-of-the-art products of its defense industry in Syria. Now it’s warning that some of those weapons could be turned against the U.S., as tensions between the powers reach new heights.
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to strike Russia’s Syrian ally in response to an alleged chemical attack -- and Russia is threatening to retaliate if its forces there suffer harm. While both sides have dialed back the brinkmanship in the last couple of days, they remain locked in what could be the most dangerous standoff between nuclear-armed countries for decades.