Putin: chemical attack was provocation against Assad

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted Friday that the Syrian leader didn’t use chemical weapons against his people, saying the recent attack that killed civilians was a “provocation” against President Bashar Assad.

Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, Putin made one of his strongest rejections of blaming Assad’s forces for the chemical attack in April. The attack in northern Syria killed at least 90, including many children. It was followed by an unprecedented U.S. strike on a Syrian air base from which aircraft suspected of being involved in the chemical raid took off.

“We are absolutely convinced that it was a provocation. Assad didn’t use the weapons,” Putin said. “It was done by people who wanted to blame him for that.”

He added that Russian intelligence had information that a “similar scenario” was to be implemented elsewhere in Syria, including near Damascus.

“Thank God, they were smart enough not to do that after we released information about it,” he said.

The attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun caused an international uproar as images of the aftermath were widely broadcast.

Russia, one of Assad’s closest allies, and the Syrian government have repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. Following an equally fatal chemical attack in 2013, Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons under a deal brokered by Russia and the U.S.