Putin considers use of chemical weapons in Syria militants’ provocation

The use of chemical weapons in Syria is a provocation of militants and the strike on the country in circumvention of the U.N. will be illegitimate, President Vladimir Putin said. Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Putin said: “Militants hope on assistance from the countries, which supported them from the very beginning. This is the essence of the provocation.” A sovereign state can use force in case of self-defence and “Syria does not attack the United States”. Force can be also used under the U.N. authorisation. “As one of the participants in the discussions said yesterday those who acted other way worsen themselves,” the president said. All events in the Middle East have an impact on the world economy because the region supplies a great number of energy resources. In case of any clashes energy prices hike at once, Putin said. “What does it mean? The prices hamper the world economic development. At this time it is counter-productive to destabilise the situation in the Middle East,” the president said. “The population of Western countries back us and they come against delivering strikes on Syria. I assure you the public poll proves that the majority of the population are against military actions,” he said. Putin disagreed that there was equality of votes on Syria at the G20 summit. “It’s wrong,” he replied. The United States, Turkey, Canada, Saudi Arabia and France backed the use of force against Syria. “At first Mr. Cameron [British premier] supported military actions. But later he changed his position under the parliament’s pressure,” Putin said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is very careful in this aspect. “Germany is not going to take part in any military actions,” the president said. “Russia, China, India, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Italy were categorically against using force in Syria,” he said, adding that the U.N. secretary-general and Pope Francis spoke about inadmissibility to start military actions in Syria.