The US and its allies are preparing new airstrikes on Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that militants are poised to stage a chemical weapons attack in order to frame Damascus and provide a pretext for the strikes.
The attack would be used as a pretext for US, UK and French airstrikes on Syrian targets, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov said. USS ‘The Sullivans,’ an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer, was already deployed to the Persian Gulf a couple of days ago, he added.
The destroyer has 56 cruise missiles on board, according to data from the Russian Defence Ministry. A US Rockwell B-1 Lancer, a supersonic bomber equipped with 24 cruise missiles, has also been deployed at the Qatari Al Udeid Airbase.
The provocations are being prepared by militants from Al-Nusra Front (now known as Tahrir al-Sham) in Idlib province, northwestern Syria,
In order to stage the attack, some eight canisters of chlorine were delivered in to village near Jisr al-Shughur city for the terrorists’ use, he added. A separate group of militants, prepped by private British security company Olive, have also arrived in the area. The group will be disguised as volunteers from the White Helmets group and will simulate a rescue operation involving locals purportedly injured in the attack, according to the military official.
According to the Defense Ministry spokesman, recent statements by US National Security Advisor John Bolton – in which he threatened to bomb Syria – could be interpreted as an implicit confirmation of such airstrikes. On August 22, Bolton stated that “... if the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons, we will respond very strongly and they really ought to think about this a long time.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned Washington against new reckless moves in Syria, RIA Novosti reported. “We hear ultimatums from Washington, including those made in public,” the top official said, apparently referring to Bolton’s recent remarks.
According to Ryabkov, the US is aiming to destabilize Syria and create new pretexts for regime change in Damascus. “Again, we are witnessing serious escalation of the situation [in Syria],” he added.
In April, the US, UK and France unleashed a bombing campaign on Syria. The airstrikes were carried out in response to an alleged gas attack in Douma on April 7, which the West blamed on Bashar Assad’s government. The operation started hours before a team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was due to reach the city.
Back then, Syrian defenses were scrambled to repel some 103 cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles launched at civilian and military targets by the Western trio. It managed to intercept at least 71 of them, the Russian Defense Ministry said at the time.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, militants arriving in Syria's Idlib after undergoing training by UK private military company Olive, formerly known as Blackwater.
The Russian Defense Ministry is accusing the United States, the United Kingdom and France of preparing to carry out new strikes against Syria under the pretext of chemical weapons use by the Syrian government forces.
"The Western countries' actions in spite of their public statements, are aimed at another sharp deterioration of the situation in the Middle East region and the disruption of the peace process on the territory of Syria," ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov noted.
According to the spokesman, militants in the Idlib province are preparing to stage the use of chemical weapons against civilians by the government. This would be a "false-flag" attack say the Russians.
"To carry out the alleged "chemical attack" in the city of Jisr al-Shughur in the province of Idlib, the Tahrir al-Sham group (affiliated with the Jabhat Nusra* terror organization) militants had delivered 8 tankers with chlorine… to a village a few kilometers from Jisr al-Shughur," the general stated.
For this purpose, USS The Sullivans destroyer with 56 cruise missiles on board arrived in the Persian Gulf several days ago.
"This provocation with the active participation of the British special services will serve as another pretext for the US, UK and France to conduct a missile strike on the Syrian government and economic facilities," Konashenkov said.
"The militants in Syria are tasked with imitating the rescue of the victims of chemical weapons' use in the vestments of the notorious White Helmets," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov noted.
According to Konashenkov, "unfounded" statements vowing to respond to chemical weapons' use by the Syrian government made by a number of high-ranking representatives of the US (i.e. John Bolton), UK and France serve as indirect evidence of the preparation of another "act of aggression against Syria by the United States and its allies."
On August 23, National Security Adviser John Bolton reportedly told Russian Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev that America is prepared to respond with greater force than it has used in Syria before.
The warning comes ahead of what could become one of the deadliest flashpoints in the country's civil war.
Syrian military forces, backed by Russian allies, are positioning themselves around the northwestern province of Idlib, the last area still dominated by rebel forces. This, the Russians say, is why the notion of a chemical attack is so absurd: The Syrians and Russians are WINNING the "civil war" and have re-taken most of the country. Why then would they resort to using chemical weapons when they KNOW by doing so, would trigger an US/UK/French attack? Quite simply, Russia says, Syria would NOT do such a thing, but the evidence shows that a phony chemical attack is once again being "staged" to be blamed on Syria.
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