US accusations over gas attack resemble claims before invading Iraq, Putin says

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow will demand a United Nations investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria as it expected new provocations with toxic agents in the war-torn country.

"We intend to officially address a relevant UN structure in The Hague and call on the international community to investigate thoroughly this incident, and to take a balanced decision depending on the results of the investigation," Putin said at a joint news conference with Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

A reported April 4 toxic gas attack in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province in northwestern Syria killed at least 70 civilians and wounded scores of others.

Numerous Western powers, including the United States, blamed the Syrian government for the attack.

The Syrian government denied possession of chemical weapons, while the Russian Defense Ministry accused Syrian rebels of producing toxic agents in a depot which exploded after a strike by Syrian warplanes and caused the contamination.

On April 6, the US launched 59 cruise missiles against a Syrian air base, from which airplanes allegedly carrying chemical weapons took off.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that nine civilians, including four children, were killed.

Putin said Moscow had information from different sources that such "provocations" were being prepared in other regions of Syria including in southern outskirts of the capital Damascus, where "some substances" would be used and the official Syrian authorities would be blamed for their use.

Putin said that the developments reminded him of the events of 2003, when representatives of the US told the UN Security Council they had found toxic substances in Iraq to justify an invasion of that country.

"After this the military campaign began in Iraq, which ended in a destruction of the country, an increase of the terrorist threat and the appearance of the Islamic State in the international scene," Putin said.

Meanwhile, as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow will remain open to frank dialogue and joint work with Washington.