Russia accuses Washington of trying to derail Sochi talks

MOSCOW: A top Russian diplomat on Wednesday accused the US of promoting unverified reports about chemical weapons attacks in Syria in order to cloud Russia’s peace initiatives.

Russia is hosting Syria peace talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi next week that some Syrian opposition figures said will run counter to UN peace initiatives.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with Interfax news agency that the US is promoting “rigged, unverified reports” of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria to hamper Russia’s peace efforts.

Ryabkov’s remarks came a day after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Moscow “ultimately bears responsibility for the victims” of a new suspected chemical attack outside the Syrian capital Damascus.

Twenty-one people were treated for respiratory problems after rockets were fired on the rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus on Monday, which residents and medical sources said contained chlorine.

In response, 24 governments approved a new “partnership against impunity” for the use of toxic weapons at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday.

Speaking after the meeting, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Damascus ally Moscow must be held responsible for the “apparent chemical attack.”

“Whoever conducted the attacks, Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the victims in East Ghouta and countless other Syrians targeted with chemical weapons, since Russia became involved in Syria,” Tillerson told reporters.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who chaired the meeting, said perpetrators “will not go unpunished.”

And France announced sanctions against 25 people and companies it said were linked to Syria’s alleged chemical weapons.

The UN found that Syrian regime forces were responsible for chlorine attacks on three villages in 2014 and 2015.

And last year, the UN and others blamed regime forces for an April 2017 sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun that left scores dead.

Regime ally Russia cast back-to-back vetoes in November to block the renewal of a probe to identify the perpetrators of chemical attacks in Syria.