US Strike in Syria Serves to Improve Trump Ratings - Syrian Opposition Member

The US missile strikes on a Syrian military airfield in the western province of Homs were aimed at helping to improve the ratings of US President Donald Trump, Firas Khalidi, a member of Syria's Moscow-Cairo opposition group, told Sputnik on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia, Iran and Turkey are guarantors of the nationwide ceasefire in Syria introduced on December 30, 2016. Both Moscow and Tehran condemned the US missile strikes.

"It is an attempt to raise Trump's approval rating, showing that he is strong and capable of powerful attacks, it is also an attempt to refute his ties to Russia or Putin," Khalidi said.

The attack, which took place on Thursday night as a response to deadly chemical attacks allegedly carried out by Syrian government forces on Tuesday in Syria's Idlib, came against the background of Trump's low approval ratings. According to recent polls, Trump's ratings are worse than former US President Barack Obama's lowest rating. On Monday, the Qunnipiac University poll showed that only 35 percent of respondents approved Trump's policies in comparison to Obama's lowest figure of 38 percent.

The opposition member also suggested that the attack could be aimed at undermining the Russia-Iran alliance.

"In the international arena this attack is aimed at undermining Russia-Iran alliance and intensifying disagreements between them. The strike may lead to the shift of power balance between opposition and authorities, but it would not have a significant effect on the positions of different parties. On the other hand, it may give an impetus to negotiation process by pressing the authorities," Khalidi added.