Syria gas attack: US vows to take strong action, Russia dubs it as 'fake news'

The Kremlin today accused Washington of refusing to face up to reality over an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town in Syria, for which Moscow insists there is no evidence.

"You see the unconstructive position that some countries including the US have taken. They are a priori refusing to face reality," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. He added that "none of them is talking about the need for an unbiased investigation" and said that this limited the diplomatic options for Russia, but that it would continue "active work on the diplomatic front." Peskov spoke after US President Donald Trump on Monday said the apparent chemical weapons attack would be "met forcefully" and indicated a decision on military action was hours away.

The Kremlin spokesman said that there was as yet no agreement on the date for a proposed meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin. Russia's UN ambassador on Monday warned that the use of military force against Syria could have "grave repercussions." The Russian defence ministry dismissed footage of attack victims as "yet another fake," following Moscow's practice of suggesting that rebels are staging attacks to discredit President Bashar al-Assad's regime, which Russia supports militarily.

The defence ministry said its specialists visited hospitals in Douma, the largest town in the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus, but found no evidence of a chemical attack. Deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Tuesday said that "fabrications and false stories are being used to find some pretext for the use of military force," RIA Novosti news agency reported.
"We consider this absolutely unacceptable and extremely dangerous," Bogdanov said.

The US and Russia have clashed at an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the chemical weapons attacks against civilians in Syria, with Washington saying the Russian regime's 'hands are all covered in the blood of Syrian children' and Moscow calling reports of the attack 'fake news.'

In an emergency meeting following claims of chemical weapons attacks against civilians in Douma, Syria, both Security Council members and officials briefing them voiced grave concern that the use of such weapons risked being normalized ? and could contribute to rapidly escalating tensions between world Powers ? for the first time since the end of the cold war. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said she could hold up pictures of all of the killing and suffering for the Security Council to see, "but what would be the point? The monster who was responsible for these attacks has no conscience, not even to even be shocked by pictures of dead children.

"The Russian regime, whose hands are all covered in the blood of Syrian children, cannot be ashamed by pictures of its victims. We've tried that before,? she said. "We must not overlook Russia and Iran's roles in enabling the Assad regime's murderous destruction." Haley said Russia's obstructionism will 'not continue to hold us hostage when we are confronted' with an attack like this one. "The United States is determined to see that the monster who dropped chemical weapons on the Syrian people held to account," she said.

Haley warned that the US will 'respond' and that 'important decisions' are being weighed upon. Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia said that it was hardly surprising that, in the absence of an investigation, the burden of responsibility was being pinned on Russia and Iran.

"We need to get to the bottom of this," he said but in an honest and objective way that did not prejudge the outcome. He stressed that the use of sarin or chlorine in Douma had not been confirmed and invited those who would speak against him to proceed from the premise that no chemical attack had taken place. He said the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) experts should immediately fly to Damascus where Syrian authorities and Russian troops would provide the conditions for them to go to the scene and familiarize themselves with the situation, as called for by the President of the United States and other Western leaders.

He went on to say that air strikes yesterday on an airfield in Homs Province was deeply troubling, and that 'fake news' from Douma was aimed at drawing attention away from the case of the British spy Sergei Skripal.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday expressed deep concern over renewed violence in Douma, particularly the alarming allegations that chemical weapons may have been used against civilians. A statement from UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the Secretary-General called on all parties to cease fighting and restore the calm that had been in place and adhere fully to Security Council resolution 2401, adopted in February and which called for a ceasefire across Syria.