Russia warns US: Don't play with fire in Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Photo: Times

On August 30, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated his warning that a staged chemical weapons attack in Syria's Idlib province could be a pretext for a US-led strike against forces loyal to Damascus.

“The West is preparing a new provocation aimed at thwarting the anti-terrorist operation in Idlib,” Lavrov said at a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem.

“We have evidence and have issued strong warnings to our Western partners through our Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to play with fire.”

Earlier, the Russian military said that a group of militants in Syria was preparing a provocation, in which chlorine gas could be used to blame Syrian government forces. According to the above assertion, this incident would be used by the US and its allies to justify a new attack on the country, similar to what happened in April.

Amid international tensions, Russia has held a large-scale naval exercise in the Mediterranean, involving 25 ships and 30 aircraft, including Tu-160 strategic bombers.

The US had previously said it would retaliate against a possible chemical attack by the Syrian government, using more firepower than it did in April. The attack was carried out by the US, UK and France, targeting what they said were sites linked to chemical weapons research. The attack was said to be in response to an alleged use of an improvised chlorine bomb in a military-controlled area. Russia insisted the incident was staged to create a pretext for a Western response.