MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the country’s security council on Friday and discussed keeping Russia’s air force presence in Syria following the U.S. missile strikes, the Kremlin said.

« The meeting expressed deep concern about the unavoidable negative consequences stemming from the aggressive action for the fight against global terrorism, » it said in a statement.

It added that the council had discussed keeping a Russian airforce presence in Syria to support the anti-terrorist operations of the Syrian army.

(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; writing by Sujata Rao)