Boris Johnson says there is ‘strong evidence’ Russian jets were ‘the culprits’ behind deadly attack on aid convoy in Syria
Boris backed up America’s allegation that Putin's fighter pilots were to blame for attack in meeting at UN Security council
BORIS Johnson last night condemned a deadly attack on an aid convoy in Syria - then said there was “strong” evidence Russian jets were the culprits.
The Foreign Secretary spoke outside a UN security council meeting on Syria backing up America’s allegation that Putin's fighter pilots were to blame for the outrage which killed at least 21 people.
Mr Johnson became the first official to air the allegation publicly.
He said: “There are only two possible culprits – only two forces capable of having carried out that strike, flying in that area.
“They are the Syrians and the Russians, and we have our doubts about the Syrian capability to fly at night. So you are left with a pretty strong conclusion.”
But he added that it was “too early” to “say anything about criminality and to make conclusive judgements about responsibility”.
The US and Russia have been arguing over responsibility for the bombing of the UN convoy, which happened in the west of Aleppo city on Monday.
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John Kerry, US secretary of state, also accused his Russia counterpart Sergey Lavrov of being in a “parallel universe”.
The Russian authorities have offered several different explanations for the destruction of 18 Syrian Red
Crescent trucks laden with UN food and medicine on Monday evening a rebel-held rural area of Aleppo.
They suggested they could have been attacked by rebels, or that the vehicles could have caught fire on their own without an external cause.
They later claimed that the trucks were accompanied by a rebel vehicle with a mortar mounted on it.
Kerry called for the immediate grounding of the Syrian air force in an attempt to salvage the temporary peace agreement.