Updated
Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations says Moscow has warned the US of "grave repercussions" if it carries out an attack against Syrian government forces over reports of a deadly gas attack.
Key points:
- Russia's Ambassador to the UN denies there was a chemical attack in Douma
- US Ambassador to the UN says Washington will respond regardless of Security Council decision
- US President Donald Trump says those responsible for Syria attack will 'pay a price'
Speaking at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Vassily Nebenzia reiterated Russia's claim that there was no chemical attack over the weekend in the town of Douma near the Syrian capital Damascus.
Medical workers and rebel fighters in the area have said around 50 people died in the rebel-held town when a helicopter dropped a container of poison gas.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Washington would respond to the attack on Douma, a rebel-held town in Syria, regardless of whether the Council acted or not.
But Mr Nebenzia accused the US of moving the world towards a "dangerous threshold".
And he accused Britain, France and others of "blindly" following the US line on Syria, using "slander, insults, hawkish rhetoric, blackmail, sanctions and threats to use force against a sovereign state".
Mr Nebenzia said a fact-finding mission from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) should go to Damascus, and would be protected by Russian and Syrian soldiers.
"There was no chemical weapons attack," Mr Nebenzia said.
"Through the relevant channels we already conveyed to the US that armed force under a mendacious pretext against Syria where — at the request of the legitimate government of a country, Russian troops have been deployed — could lead to grave repercussions.
The OPCW has opened an investigation to determine what exactly happened in Douma.
"We have reached the moment when the world must see justice done," Ms Haley told the Council.
"History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria.
"Either way, the United States will respond."
British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce said Britain "would prefer to start with a proper investigation", and London was in close contact with its allies the United States and France.
Trump: Those responsible will 'pay a price'
US President Donald Trump has threatened a military strike against Syria and declared that Russia or any other nation found to share responsibility for Saturday's apparent chemical weapons attack on civilians will "pay a price".
The White House rejected suggestions that Mr Trump's previous statement about pulling US troops out of Syria had prompted the attack.
Mr Trump, asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin bore any responsibility, responded, "He may, yeah, he may. And if he does it's going to be very tough, very tough."
He added, "Everybody's going to pay a price. He will. Everybody will."
Amid the statements from the White House, the US military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order.
A Navy destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, was underway in the eastern Mediterranean after completing a port call in Cyprus.
The guided missile destroyer is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the weapon of choice in a US attack one year ago on an airfield in Syria following an alleged sarin gas attack on civilians.
The Russian military, which has a presence in Syria as a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, said its officers had visited Douma and found no evidence to back up reports of poison gas being used.
Bishop: Our advice is Syria was responsible
Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop said she had been advised the Syrian regime was responsible for the attack in Douma, and voiced concerns over Russia's threat.
"Russia is backing the Syrian regime, and the Syrian regime has been found to have a history of using chemical weapons against its own people," she said.
"It is a catastrophe. The humanitarian crisis has been unprecedented in its scale and Australia has been calling for a political solution for some time now, but the civil war seems to be broadening.
"It is of great concern that Russia would use this opportunity to veto a strong statement or call for action, to that extent I agree with the US State Department and the US administration that says Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the targeting of countless Syrians with chemical weapons.
"Russia, through the UN Security Council, has the ability to get a unanimous outcome from the UN Security Council so that action should be taken, and by using its veto [it is] preventing that action to stop the conflict in Syria."
ABC/wires
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, donald-trump, syrian-arab-republic, united-states, russian-federation
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