Russian Preside🍰nt Vladimir Putin yesterday dismissed US claims that the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its own people — and warned President Obama to tread lightly.
Putin said it would be “utter nonsense” for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to have executed the Aug. 21 attack th🌸at killed 1,429 people, and he blamed Syrian rebels.
“Syrian government troops are on th💙e offensive and have surrounded the opposition in several regions. In these conditions, to🤡 give a trump card to those who are calling for a military intervention is utter nonsense,” he said.
US offi๊cials say they have e𓄧vidence that the Syrian government executed the attack.
But Russia, a major weapons supplier to Syria, challenged those claims and said there s☂hould🎃 be no military action without UN Security Council approval.
The Americans “say that they have proof. Well, let them show it to thꦗ൩e United Nations inspectors and the Security Council . . . If they don’t show it, that means there is none,” Putin said.
The Russian president wants world leaders to discuss the Syrian crisis at the G20 summit in St. Petersburg next week. Putin doesn’t plan to meet privately with Obama, however, because Washington canceled plans for a visit to Moscow ahead of the summit.