The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
United Nations:
Security Council told ‘specialists found no traces of toxic substance use’ at site
Russia has evidence that Britain had “direct involvement” in staging the suspected chemical attack in Syria, its military chiefs have claimed.
Humanitarian volunteers were “seriously pressured” by the UK to speed up plans for a “provocation” in Eastern Ghouta, according to the federation’s defence ministry. It comes as Russia and the United States traded fresh blows at the latest round of talks at the UN Security Council.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov yesterday accused London of directing the assault on Douma. Mr Konashenkov said: “We know for certain that between April 3 and April 6 the socalled White Helmets were seriously pressured from London to speed up the provocation they were preparing.”
The Douma attack has drawn international outrage which has seen Theresa May and Donald Trump agree that the use of chemical weapons must not go unchallenged after the prime minister won the backing of her Cabinet for action to prevent their further use in Syria.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Russian experts have inspected the site of the alleged attack in Douma, just east of Damascus, and found no trace of chemical weapons.
He said Moscow has “irrefutable information that it was another fabrication”.
Russia’s ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko said the White Helmets, a group of humanitarian volunteers, are supported by the British Government and are “famous for staging fake chemical attacks”.
He told a London press conference: “The Syrian government had been repeatedly warning for at least a month that rebels prepared to stage a provocation with chemical weapons in this very area.”
At the UN Security Council, Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said there was “no credible confirmation” of a chemical attack and accused intelligence agencies of directing the attack.
He said: “Our specialists found no traces of toxic substance use. We have information to believe that what took place was a provocation with the participation of certain countries’ intelligence services.”
He said the sole interest of the UK, US and France was to “oust” the Syrian government and “contain” the Russian Federation. US ambassador Nikki Haley said: “It is Russia alone that has stopped at nothing to defend the Syrian regime’s multiple uses of chemical weapons. It is Russia alone that used its veto 12 times to protect the Assad regime.”
She added: “Russia can complain all it wants about fake news but no one is buying its lies and its cover-ups.”
UK ambassador Karen Pierce said: “It is Russia’s own actions that have led to this situation. We will not sacrifice the international order that we have collectively to the Russian desire to protect its ally at all costs.” Mrs May and the US president discussed the situation on Thursday night, saying there was a need “to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime”, as they pledged to work together on the international response to the suspected chemical weapons attack.
Ministers have said it is “highly likely” Bashar Assad’s Syrian regime was responsible for the attack on Saturday on the rebel-held town of Douma which reportedly left dozens dead and that there was agreement around the Cabinet table that such actions should not go “unchallenged”.