The Russian Security Council dismissed claims on Wednesday about information manipulation regarding Aleppo noting that militants involved in chemical attacks in Syria were acting under Western patronage.
"If the Americans are knowledgeable of certain facts that we, allegedly, are going to use for manipulation, why are they not disclosing them to the public? Thus one can conclude that these facts are not favorable for them and are linked to their connection with militants involved in chemical attacks in Aleppo, operating under Western patronage", aide to the Secretary of Russian Security Council Alexander Venedictov said.
The statement comes after US State Department spokesperson Robert Palladino claimed on 7 December in a press release that the Assad government and Russia had falsely accused opposition and extremist groups of conducting a chlorine attack in north-western Aleppo.
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The Russian Defence Ministry, for its part, rejected the allegations, noting that this statement was "nothing more than an attempt to whitewash the international terrorists operating in Idlib and associated with the pseudo-rescuers the White Helmets, who have put their Western patrons in a bad light with their provocation".
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups and militant and terrorist organizations. Russia, along with Turkey and Iran, is a guarantor of the ceasefire in Syria. Moscow has also been providing humanitarian aid to residents of the crisis-torn country.