TSKHINVALI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th August, 2018) Syria got rid of its chemical arsenal in 2013, never used and will not use chemical weapons, Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad said on Sunday.
On Tuesday, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of a 2013 chemical weapons attack in Syria's Eastern Ghouta, the United Kingdom, the United States and France released a statement warning that they "will respond appropriately to any further use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime." The statement also called on supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad to "use their influence to uphold the global norm against chemical weapons use." On Wednesday, US National Security Adviser John Bolton promised to respond "very strongly" if the Syrian government used chemical weapons.
"Firstly, Syria got rid of the chemical arsenal in 2013. We never used and will not use chemical weapons," Haddad said, commenting on the statements.
He called falsehood and misleading statements were sounding from the West.
"These statements will not pass, they have one pretext for everything - the use of chemical weapons, and as soon as our army, thanks to the support of friendly countries, advances to liberate our lands, the West and the United States immediately want to intervene in order to attack Syria, in order to weaken Syria and prolong the war," Haddad explained.
On Saturday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that militants in Syria were preparing a provocation to accuse Damascus of using chemical weapons against civilians in the province of Idlib. On Sunday, Konshenkov said the provocation was planned within the next two days in the settlement of Kafr Zita with the assistance of English-speaking specialists. USS Sullivan with 56 cruise missiles on board and US Air Force B-1B strategic bomber with 24 cruise missiles were both redeployed closer to the region several days ago.
Konashenkov noted that the unfounded statements by Western officials might be an indirect confirmation of the preparation of another act of aggression against Syria.
