On March 13, US President Trump ousted his secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, and announced he would replace Mr. Tillerson with Mike Pompeo, the CIA director. At the CIA, Pompeo will be replaced by the current deputy director, Gina Haspel.


Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2018


Trump said Pompeo “will continue our program of restoring America’s standing in the world, strengthening our alliances, confronting our adversaries, and seeking the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

The new appointment came two days after US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley had threatened that the US will strike Syrian forces if they continue their operation against militants in the Damascus subrub of Eastern Ghouta. Considering that Russia has servicemen involved in helping government forces and providing a humanitarian aid to civilians in the area, this threat was also adressed to Moscow.

Head of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov commented on this threat saying that Russian forces will take retaliatory actions against any “missiles” or “launchers” posing a threat to their service members.

“According to reports, after the false flag attack, the US plans to accuse the Syrian government troops of using chemical weapons, and to provide the world community with the so-called ‘evidence’ of the alleged mass death of civilians at the hands of the Syrian government and “Russia supporting it,” he said. Then, according to Gerasimov, the US “plans to launch a missile strike on the government-held districts of Damascus.”

The chief of the General Staff continued saying that militants are already preparing to falsify a “government” chemical attack.

“We have reliable information about militants preparing to falsify a government chemical attack against civilians. In several districts of Eastern Ghouta, a crowd was assembled with women, children and old people, brought from other regions, who were to represent the victims of the chemical incident.”

A new round of escalation in Syria is developing just few days ahead of Russia’s presidential election scheduled on March 18.

Meanwhile, reports have appeared, that the Ukrainian military is actively preparing for offensive actions against forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in the eastern part of the country. Local sources also indicate that the Ukrainian government is planning stage provocations on a contact line between its military and forces of the DPR and the LPR. According to reports, a military escalation as well as provocations on the contact line may take place in eastern Ukraine in the coming week.

It’s possible that an escalation scenario in both Syria and Ukraine may be implemented by the US establishment soon after or during the presidential election in Russia. The goal of these actions will be to stage an aggressive war against Russia,