Russian FM claimed the huffing about Syria's chemical weapons was used to justify NATO putting Patriot missiles in Turkey

The Russian government on Tuesday claimed the West was knowingly overstating the threat from the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons stockpiles

The US and its NATO allies this week issued bombastic statements about a “red line” for military intervention in Syria if the regime of Bashar al-Assad uses chemical weapons on its people. Other reports cited anonymous sources claiming Assad had been mixing new combinations of toxins and moving them to various locations.

“Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov declared that there had been an exaggeration of the threat faced by Turkey to justify NATO’s deployment of Patriot missile batteries and the move will end up adding to the tension in the region,” reports The Independent.

In explaining the deliberate exaggeration and perhaps fabrication of the Syrian chemical weapons threat, Lavrov explained that “as soon as we get these rumours [about chemical weapons] we engage in constructive demarche; when we get confirmation that nothing of that type is happening we share this information with our American colleagues.”

The new bombast was featured directly alongside NATO’s decision to station Patriot missiles in Turkey along the Syrian border. Officials denied they would be used for offensive purposes.