Moscow Warns West against Launching New Aggression on Syria over Chemical Allegations

NEW YORK, (ST)- Russia has warned western countries against launching new aggression on Syria under the pretext of chemical weapon use, stressing that terrorists must not be allowed to hold civilians hostage.

“A number of western countries are preparing for military action in Syria targeting government positions over allegations about Damascus’ use of toxic materials,”  Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said at a UN Security Council meeting following the Russian-Iranian-Turkish summit in Tehran, reaffirming that Syria doesn’t have chemical weapons after it eliminated them in 2014, a fact confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).   

The terrorist organizations in Syria, backed by their foreign sponsors, are preparing provocations with chemical weapons in Idleb aiming to accuse the Syrian Arab army of a chemical attack, added Nebenzya, asserting that Russia has got clear-cut evidence about such preparations.

 According to Itar Tass, Nebenzya said that Moscow believes that terrorists must not be allowed to hold civilians hostage in the Syrian province of Idlib.

“Terrorists must not be allowed to hold hostages indefinitely and use hundreds of thousands of civilians in Idlib as a human shield,” he stressed, adding that “it is impossible to exist side by side with terrorists.”

“Terrorists must not be shielded because they all are one way or another linked to Al-Qaeda, the group we all started to fight after the Nine Eleven attacks,” Nebenzya noted.

The Russian envoy pointed out that the joint statement the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey adopted in Tehran emphasized the need to separate “moderate opposition” members from terrorists. “This separation is crucial for preventing civilian casualties,” Nebenzya said.

Hamda Mustafa