WORLD NEWS | Tue Jun 27, 2017 | 10:59am EDT

Russia brands U.S. warning to Syria over chemical weapons 'unacceptable'

By Dmitry Solovyov and Jeff Mason | MOSCOW/WASHINGTON

Russia denounced a U.S. warning that the Syrian leadership will pay a heavy price for any chemical weapons attack, and dismissed White House assertions that a strike was being prepared as "unacceptable".

The White House said late on Monday the preparations in Syria were similar to actions before an April 4 chemical attack which killed dozens of civilians and prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to order a missile strike on a Syrian air base.

But Russia, which is President Bashar al-Assad's main backer in Syria's six-year-old civil war and has used its veto power on the United Nations Security Council several times to shield his government, challenged the U.S. intelligence.

"I am not aware of any information about a threat that chemical weapons can be used," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.

"Certainly, we consider such threats to the legitimate leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic unacceptable."

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]