Russia claims chemical attack in Syria was staged with western help

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, blamed the chemical attack carried out in the Syrian town of Douma on 7 April on opposition rebels and western intelligence agencies, claiming he had "irrefutable" evidence to support his accusations.

"We have irrefutable evidence that this was another staged event, and that the secret services of a certain state that is now at the forefront of a Russophobic campaign was involved in this staged event," he said during a press conference.

Lavrov did not name a specific agency but warned the West against taking military action after the chemical attack sparked international scorn, leading some Western nations to call for action against Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad's regime.

Echoing his foreign affairs chief, President Vladimir Putin said countries should not rush to blame Assad until they had investigated the matter thoroughly, adding that a team of Russian investigators had found no traces of chemicals at the site of the attack.

Following last Saturday's attack, Russian officials had also claimed that the images of the victims had been faked.

In the background, Moscow's top diplomat in the UK, Alexander Yakovenko had been warning for weeks of the possibility of staged attacks, further accusing France and the UK of following mechanically in America's steps.