LThe United Nations will meet on the situation in Idlib amid warnings from the US and the West about the risk of using chemical weapons there.

The United States, which holds the presidency of the UN Security Council in September, has repeatedly warned against the use of chemical weapons in Idlib. US Ambassador Nikki Haley on September 4 reiterated US President Donald Trump's warning that the United States would retaliate if the Syrian government used chemical weapons, according to Xinhua.

"This is a dire situation. If they want to continue to do what they said they would do with Syria, they can do so. But they cannot use chemical weapons. They cannot attack their own people with chemical weapons and we will not tolerate that," Xinhua quoted Ms. Haley as telling reporters.

The US ambassador added that at a meeting scheduled for Friday morning, the Security Council will take action to prevent a chemical weapons attack from taking place.

"What you'll see is the Security Council coming together and saying: We're not going to wait for chemical weapons attacks to happen. We want to have a meeting to discuss what shouldn't happen," Haley said.

Meanwhile, Moscow and Damascus have repeatedly denied allegations that they intend to use chemical weapons in Idlib. Damascus has stressed that the accusations are a ploy by Western powers to hinder the offensive on the last rebel stronghold in Syria.

On September 4, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura also called for preventing bloody conflicts in Idlib province.

"Let's try to avoid a final battle in Idlib. This conflict on Syrian territory should end with negotiations, not with a bloodbath," Mr. Mistura stressed.

According to Mr. Mistura, there are currently 2.9 million civilians living in Idlib, including 10,000 al Nusra fighters, which is considered a terrorist organization by the UN Security Council.

The UN Security Council's move came as Russian and Syrian planes fired the opening shots in the final battle with rebel forces in Idlib on September 4.