Russia will continue supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in the fight against terrorism, Dmitry Peskov said.
Answering a question on whether Russia is going to continue supporting Assad after the chemical attack in Idlib even if Moscow risks deteriorating relations with the US, Peskov said that "Russia and its Armed Forces continue the operation to support the anti-terrorist operation to liberate the country carried out by the Syrian Arab Republic's army."
Syrian opposition claimed Tuesday forces loyal to President Bashar Assad had used a chemical gas on people in the northwestern province, killing nearly 80 and injuring 200. Assad argued his government has no chemical weapons after agreeing to have them destroyed in 2013. He also ruled out having used chemicals against own people.
The Russian Defense Ministry said early Wednesday the airstrike near Khan Shaykhun was carried out by Syrian aircraft, which struck a terrorist warehouse that stored chemical weapons slated for delivery to Iraq.
Russia will present Russian Defense Ministry's data on an airstrike on a plant producing chemical weapons in Syria at the UN Security Council, Peskov added.
"As for Kremlin's plans, the plan is to continue the consistent line of the decisive fight against terrorism, which the Russian president has been conducting for years. We have repeatedly said that we lack international cooperation; and that happens not due to our fault. But despite this, Russia is determined to continue its efforts to combat terrorism," Peskov added.
Kremlin believes "apocalyptic musings" about potential Western airstrikes against Syrian government forces following a reported chemical attack in Syria's Idlib are unacceptable.
In 2013, the Syrian authorities agreed to transfer its stockpiled chemical weapons under international control for their subsequent destruction in order to prevent them from becoming available to militants operating in the country.
