US holds Russia responsible for raid on aid convoy

WASHINGTON

The U.S. holds Russia responsible for an airstrike that targeted a UN aid convoy, regardless if Moscow or Damascus carried it out, the White House said Tuesday.

"In any event, we hold the Russian government responsible for airstrikes in this space," spokesman Ben Rhodes told reporters in New York, citing Russian commitments under a nationwide truce.

"We take very seriously this outrageous attack," Rhodes added.

Numerous media reports said U.S. officials have reached the preliminary conclusion that Russian jets struck the convoy near Aleppo.

The UN halted its aid deliveries following the strike and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called it a “sickening, savage, and apparently deliberate attack."

Russia has denied it or its Syrian allies carried out the fatal attack that killed 12 people, including aid workers and convoy drivers. Reports said 18 of 31 trucks were hit.

It is the most serious challenge to the week-old Syrian cease-fire and came just hours after the Syrian government declared the agreement had expired.

Russia and the U.S. continue to work to shore up the accord.