BEIRUT — The Kremlin is dismissing the White House's warning that the Syrian government is preparing a new chemical attack and that President Bashar Assad and his military "will pay a heavy price" if it goes ahead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that "such threats to Syria's legitimate leaders are unacceptable."
Russia is Assad's key backer and sided with him when he denied responsibility for a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people in Idlib province on April 4.
Days later, President Donald Trump ordered a retaliatory cruise missile strike on a Syrian government-controlled air base.
Peskov criticized the Trump administration for using the phrase "another chemical weapons attack," arguing that an independent investigation into the April attack was never conducted despite Russia's calls for one.
Earlier, a Syrian minister dismissed the White House, saying Damascus has not and will not use such arms.
Ali Haidar, the minister for national reconciliation, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the White House statement foreshadowed a "diplomatic battle" that would be waged against Syria in the halls of the U.N.
The U.S. holds Assad's government responsible for two sarin gas attacks that together killed hundreds of civilians in 2013 and earlier this year.
The White House statement on Monday night was made without forewarning and caught State Department officials by surprise.
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