Russia gives US intel on planned chemical weapons provocation in Syria
RT.com
30 Aug, 2018
Moscow has briefed US diplomats on a plan by militants to stage a false flag chemical weapons attack in Syria’s Idlib province meant to frame Damascus, the Russian ambassador in the US has said.
Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador in Washington, confirmed to the media on Wednesday that he had met with the US special representative to Syria, James Jeffrey, and David M. Satterfield, acting assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs.
The attendees of the rare meeting and the fact that it had taken place earlier this week was revealed by US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert during a daily briefing.
The meeting was called by Russia on Friday and held on Monday, August 27, Antonov said. He commended the US side for coming at such short notice, and described the meeting as “constructive and professional.”
At the meeting, Russia officially conveyed its concerns over reports that Washington together with France and the UK is gearing up for another set of airstrikes in Syria under the pretext of a chemical attack, that would immediately be blamed on the Syrian government. Moscow has asked Washington to “provide the facts without delay” to substantiate the new allegations that Damascus uses chemical weapons against its own people.
Such rhetoric fanned by Washington may prompt militants and their “pseudo-humanitarian” organizations like the White Helmets to mount another provocation using chemical agents, Antonov warned.
Intelligence that Russia has gathered has been shared with the US, and the diplomats were told “in detail” about the provocation against civilians being prepared by Al-Nusra Front (now known as Tahrir al-Sham) in the northwestern province of Idlib.
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