28 June 2017•Update: 29 June 2017
By Diyar Guldogan
ANKARA
Moscow Wednesday blasted U.S. claims that the Syrian regime could be preparing for another chemical attack as a "provocation".
"We consider all these new insinuations on the topic of weapons of mass destruction -- in the worst traditions of the NATO intervention in 2003 in Iraq -- just as an invitation to the terrorists, extremists and armed opposition in Syria to fabricate another large-scale provocation using chemical weapons," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The remarks came two days after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement: "The U.S. has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children."
Spicer said the activities are "similar" to preparations that regime made before this April’s chemical weapons attack by Syrian regime warplanes in Idlib, killing more than 100 civilians.
Russia also warned Washington against further "irresponsible" actions in violation of the UN Charter and generally recognized norms of international law as in the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian regime air base in response to the Idlib attack.
On Tuesday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert refused to make public any evidence of regime preparations for a chemical attack, calling it "an intelligence matter".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expects the U.S. not to create pretexts for new attacks on regime forces based on "concealed intelligence data," according to Russia's official TASS news agency.
"I hope that this time the U.S. will consider the need to really ensure the regime of non-proliferation of chemical weapons, rather than speculating on some intelligence data -- that is secret and no one may see it -- to provoke others and create excuses for further strikes against Syrian regime troops fighting terrorists," Lavrov was quoted as saying by TASS.
Lavrov also said Moscow expects its American and European partners to take the "same" approach to de-escalate the situation in Syria, rather than endangering its territorial integrity.
