Vladimir Putin has deepened his support of the Syrian regime, claiming its opponents planned false-flag chemical weapon attacks to justify further US missile strikes. “It reminds me of the events in 2003 when US envoys to the security council were demonstrating what they said were chemical weapons found in Iraq,” the president told reporters on Tuesday. Before leaving Italy for Moscow, Tillerson had said the government of Assad was “coming to an end”. That policy was upended by the chemical attack on a rebel-held town in northern Syria, which killed nearly 90 people, about a third of them children. On Tuesday, he said sanctions could still follow the findings of an investigation by the independent Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Source: The Guardian April 11, 2017 11:17 UTC