UNSC holds emergency meeting on Syria chemical attack

The UN Security Council is debating a western-proposed draft resolution on a suspected chemical attack in Syria. France's envoy to the UN François Delattre has blamed the Syrian government for the suspected attack in Idlib. Delattre rejected the Russian statement on the cause of the incident and called for an investigation. Britain's envoy to the council Matthew Rycroft called for action against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons. He said the use of such weapons is a war crime. Prior to the debate, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow believes passing a resolution on the chemical weapons attack in Idlib in its present form is improper and will worsen tensions in the region. She added the resolution is anti-Syrian and based on fake information. Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has already said that Russia will stand by the Syrian government. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia will continue to assist the Syrian army in its battle against the terrorists.