
Donald Trump used Twitter on Wednesday to warn that a missile attack on Syria is imminent, hours after the Kremlin vowed to shoot down any rockets fired at the Assad regime in retaliation for last week's poison gas atrocity in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

The president tweeted: 'Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!' You shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!'

Trump followed up with a second Twitter blast, claiming America's rapport with Moscow has never been worse.

'Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War,' he tweeted. 'There is no reason for this.'

'Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?'

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, said the U.S. military was ready to provide Trump with military options but asked if he had seen enough evidence to blame Assad, Mattis said: 'We're still working on this.'

Interfax reported in the late morning that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov scoffed at Trump's online brushback pitch.

'We do not participate in Twitter diplomacy,' Peskov said. 'We support serious approaches. We continue to believe that it is important not to take steps that could harm an already fragile situation.'

The Russian military had just announced a deployment of troops to Douma. Lt. Gen. Viktor Poznikhir of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces said military police would be there by Thursday to ensure 'security' of the town.

Poznikhir said 41,213 people, including 3,354 rebels and 8,642 members of their families, have left Douma with his military's assistance.

The US military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order this morning with a Navy destroyer – armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles – underway in the eastern Mediterranean

Twitter war: Trump, who signed an anti-sex trafficking bill in the Oval Office Wednesday, launched a fusillade against Russia and Syria earlier in the morning

Donald Trump today used Twitter to warn that a missile attack on Syria is imminent – hours after the Kremlin vowed to shoot down any rockets fired at the Assad regime in retaliation for last week's gas atrocity

The president declared Wednesday that the U.S.-Russia relationship has never been worse – not even during the Cold War

Trump, who had just threatened Moscow with a missile attack, blamed Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his election 'collusion' probe for 'bad blood' between the U.S. and the Kremlin

On station: The U.S. Navy released photographs of the USS Donald Cook departing Larnaca in Cyprus on Monday as it steamed towards missile range of Syria. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer has at least 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles embarked

The U.S. has maintained its threat of rocket attacks in response to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's sickening chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma on Saturday

Conspiracy theories: Russia has claimed their military experts have found no evidence of poisonous substances at the site of Assad's latest chemical attacks - and insist the atrocity was faked by rescue volunteers. Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Syrian President Bashar Assad(right) were both threatened by Trump on Twitter

The Russian military claimed Wednesday that samples taken from the site of the chemical attack in Douma did not contain any poisonous substances.

Russian ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said the attack was a 'staged event' faked by provocateurs working with the White Helmets, a rescue and aid first-responder group whose work was chronicled in an Oscar-winning documentary film.

Separately, Trump suggested Wednesday that Moscow doesn't want to be wrapped up in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, which has been scouring Washington and New York for evidence that the president's 2016 campaign colluded with the Kremlin to help him win.

'Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama,' Trump wrote, adding that there is 'No Collusion, so they go crazy!'

His threats came hours after Moscow's ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, said any U.S. missiles fired at Syria would be shot down by Russia and the launch sites targeted. In response to Trump's tweet, Russia's foreign ministry said 'smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, not legal government.'

The Russian foreign ministry also claimed U.S. missiles would destroy 'all evidence' of a suspected chemical weapons attack.

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova added: 'Or is it the original idea to use the smart missiles to sweep the traces of the provocation under the rug?' so inspectors would have nothing to inspect.

Both the Syrian government and Russia deny the attack ever took place. The top adviser to Iran's supreme leader said on Wednesday that Tehran would support Damascus against any foreign aggression.

The Syrian air defense system is understood to have been heavily damaged but Russia has a formidable S-400 system (pictured), which has been in place in Syria for more than a year

Military might: Russia has demonstrated the power of its S-400 defence systems in videos showing rockets being fired off

Donald Trump flexed his military muscle Tuesday by tweeting an Oval Office image of 19 of his most senior military commanders. The group is pictured above left to right, Army General Curtis Scaparrotti (1), Army General Mark Milley (2), Marine Corps General Robert Neller (3), U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Paul Zukunft (4), Navy Admiral Kurt W. Tidd (5), Army General Raymond A Thomas (6), Marine Corps General Thomas D. Waldhauser (7), Air Force General Paul Selva (8), Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford (9), Defense Secretary James Mattis (10), President Donald Trump (11), Vice President Mike Pence (12), Navy Admiral Michael Rodgers (13), Navy Admiral John Richardson (14), Army General Joseph Votel (15), Air Force General David Goldfein (16), Air Force General John E Hyten (17), Air Force General Joseph L. Lengyel (18), Air Force General Lori Robinson (19), Patrick M. Shanahan (20), Navy Admiral Harry Harris (21), Air Force General Darren W McDew (22), U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Karl Schultz (23)

Russia's government claims the 'White Helmets' first-responder group faked the chemical weapons attack; one of their volunteers is pictured here yelling toward ambulances during a search for survivors of an explosion in the Syrian city of Idleb on Tuesda

In strike range: The USS Donald Cook, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer is now close to Syrian waters, and in missile range of Bashar Assad's regime

Syria's foreign ministry claimed Wednesday that Trump's government is using 'lies and fabrication' as an excuse to launch an attack.

According to SANA, the state news agency, a ministry official said: 'We are not surprised by such a thoughtless escalation by a regime like the United States regime, which sponsored terrorism in Syria and still does.'

Trump's apparent decision to telegraph his military moves flies in the face of a pledge he made last year at Fort Myer, near Washington, D.C.

'America's enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will,' he said August 21.

That mirrored complaints he tweeted more than five years ago when President Barack Obama was openly contemplating military action in Syria: 'For all of those fools that want to attack Syria, the U.S.has lost the vital element of surprise-so stupid-could be a disaster!'

'In war, the elememt [sic] of surprise is sooooo important,' Trump added then. 'What the hell is Obama doing.'

Defense Secretary James Mattis, too, has expressed a strong preference for surprise attacks over advance warnings, writing in the 2018 National Defense Strategy document that America's military should 'be strategically predictable, but operationally unpredictable.'

Wednesday morning saw a dramatic ratcheting of tensions in the Middle East where Russian forces are propping up dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and American forces are backing some of his opponents.

Britain, France and the U.S. continued to discuss possible strikes to punish Assad for the chemical attack on Saturday, in which 43 were killed and others left gasping for air and foaming at the mouth.

The U.S. military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order Wednesday morning with a Navy destroyer – armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles – en route in the eastern Mediterranean.

Amid rising tensions, Moscow's United Nations envoy Vasily Nebenzia had earlier pleaded with America not to strike and warned the U.S. it will 'bear responsibility' for any 'illegal military adventure' it carries out.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged restraint this morning, saying countries should avoid taking action that could further destabilize the war-torn country.

On Wednesday the pan-European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol warned aircraft to be careful when flying close to Syria. It said that air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles could be used within the next three days and there was a possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment.

'Due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria with air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles within the next 72 hours, and the possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment, due consideration needs to be taken when planning flight operations in the Eastern Mediterranean/Nicosia FIR area,' it said, referring to the designated airspace.

Aviation regulators in countries including the US, UK, France and Germany have previously issued warnings against airlines entering Syrian airspace leading most carriers to avoid the area.

The only commercial flights above Syria as of 9:15 p.m. Tuesday were being flown by Syrian Air and Lebanon's Middle East Airlines, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

This morning, the pan-European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol warned aircraft to be careful when flying close to Syria. It said that air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles could be used within the next three days and there was a possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment. Flight path monitoring websites showed that few if any aircraft were flying over the country this morning

Five hundred people poisoned in Syrian gas attack, WHO reveals Up to 500 people were poisoned in the Syrian gas outrage that killed 43 people including children, the World Health Organisation has revealed. WHO demanded 'immediate' access to the victims in rebel-held Douma as it revealed the total number of people who reported to hospital showing 'signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals'. The atrocity, blamed on Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad's forces, has sparked a global outcry with the US and its allies considering taking military action in response. Volunteers give aid to children at a hospital following the chemical attack in Douma While the WHO statement did not confirm outright that a chemical weapons attack had taken place, it said more than 70 people sheltering in basements have died with 43 of those deaths related to symptoms consistent with exposure to highly toxic chemicals. 'We should all be outraged at these horrific reports and images from Douma' where Saturday's attack took place, said Peter Salama, the UN agency's chief of emergency response. 'WHO demands immediate unhindered access to the area to provide care to those affected, to assess the health impacts, and to deliver a comprehensive public health response,' he added. Citing information previously released by local health organizations, WHO said that 'an estimated 500 patients presented to health facilities exhibiting signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals'. Up to 500 people were poisoned in the Syrian gas attack that killed 43 people including children, the World Health Organisation has revealed 'There were signs of severe irritation of mucous membranes, respiratory failure and disruption to central nervous systems of those exposed,' the statement added. The United States, Britain and France have argued the incident bears all the hallmarks of a strike ordered by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad has been blamed for previous attacks by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and UN-backed war crimes investigators. WHO has delivered medicine capable of treating certain types of chemical agents to clinics through a series of humanitarian convoys deployed across the country in recent years. UN officials have also accused Assad's troops of at times removing those treatments from humanitarian vehicles. Advertisement

Trump blasted his predecessor Barack Obama in 2003 for telegraphing his military moves in the Middle East – the same thing he appears to be doing this week.

The Eurocontrol statement included a broader area outside the airspace controlled by Damascus.

The Nicosia flight information region named in the Eurocontrol statement on Tuesday covers the island of Cyprus and surrounding waters, according to a map on the agency's website. The same map did not designate any specific territory as being the 'Eastern Mediterranean' region.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order this morning with a Navy destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, getting underway in the eastern Mediterranean on Monday after completing a port call in Cyprus.

The guided missile destroyer is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the weapon of choice in a U.S. attack one year ago on an airfield in Syria following an alleged sarin gas attack on civilians.

Also, the Navy said the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its strike group will depart Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday for a regularly scheduled deployment to Europe.

The U.S. military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order this morning and the Navy said the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its strike group will depart Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday for a regularly scheduled deployment to Europe

France, under Emmanuel Macron (left), warned it would retaliate against the Syrian regime if evidence emerged that the 'red line' of chemical weapons had been crossed in rebel-held Douma. Prime Minister Theresa May (right) described the attack as 'barbaric'

The Navy said the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier (file picture) and its strike group will depart Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday for a regularly scheduled deployment to Europe

Trump has warned there would be a 'big price to pay,' and Washington's UN ambassador Nikki Haley made it clear that the failure to secure a Security Council vote would not hold America and its allies back. Pictured: Sailors prepare F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets for take off during a routine training aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt in the South China sea on Tuesday

The strike group will be accompanied by a German frigate FGS Hessen, a state-of-the-art vessel specialising in air defense which officials say is the only type of warship in the Western world with three kinds of surface-to-air missiles.

Its radar has a detection range of more than 200 nautical miles for air targets.

In the face of intense world outrage, the United Nations Security Council failed to agree a global response to the chemical attack on Tuesday, after Washington and Moscow opposed each other's rival motions to set up an international investigation into poison gas use in the seven-year-old conflict.

Trump has made it clear he plans to make the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and perhaps his Russian and Iranian backers, pay for the latest alleged toxic gas atrocity in the war-wracked country.

But Russia has warned against action and this morning defense committee lawmaker Andrei Krasov said the Kremlin would treat a U.S. airstrike on Syria 'not just as an act of aggression but a war crime of the Western coalition.'

His comments followed those of senior Russian lawmaker and retired general Vladimir Shamanov, who said on Tuesday that a U.S. strike could hurt Russian servicemen and trigger Russian retaliation.

He said that Russia has 'the necessary means for that and the Americans and their allies know that quite well.'

Shamanov emphasized that a retaliatory Russian strike could target U.S. navy ships and aircraft. He added that the use of nuclear weapons is 'unlikely.'

According to rescue workers, on Saturday more than 40 people died in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma in an alleged chemical attack, which left victims struggling to breathe, foaming at the mouth and with discolored skin.

How Russia could use its fearsome S-400 defence system to shoot down missiles aimed at Syria A Russian ambassador has warned that Russia would shoot down incoming missiles and attack their launching platforms in the event of a strike on Syria. A similar warning has been issued in the past by the chief of staff of Russia's armed forces. The Syrian air defence system is understood to have been heavily damaged but Russia has a formidable S-400 system, which has been in place in Syria for more than a year. This poses a lethal threat to modern jets. Sources said it is likely any attack by the US, Britain and France would be carried out from a safe enough distance to avoid planes being shot down. The most advanced of Russia's terrifying S-400 systems is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and can also be used against ground objectives, according to Russian media. The most advanced of Russia's terrifying S-400 systems is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and can also be used against ground objectives, according to Russian media. In 2015, pictures emerged of the state-of-the-art missile systems' arrival to the battlefields of Syria The Syrian air defence system is understood to have been heavily damaged but Russia has a formidable S-400 system (pictured), which has been in place in Syria for more than a year It can engage targets at a distance of 250 miles and at an altitude of up to 19 miles. In January, it was reported that contracts for S-400 deliveries were inked with China and Turkey and that negotiations were also underway to sell the system to Saudi Arabia. Dmitri Trenin, the head of the Carnegie Moscow Centre and a former Soviet military officer, raised the terrifying prospect of a military clash between world superpowers. He said: 'The U.S. and Russia are now closer to a direct collision between their military forces than at any time since the cold war. 'The only question on my mind: will Russia hit back at the U.S. when it launches strikes against Damascus?' In recent weeks the Russian military has reportedly began jamming some smaller U.S. military drones operating in the skies over Syria. According to four U.S. officials speaking to NBC news, this has affected American military operations. The officials said the Russian military was concerned the U.S. military would retaliate for the attacks and began jamming the GPS systems of drones operating in the area. Last year Donald Trump ordered a Tomahawk missile strike (pictured) against the Syrian regime's al-Shayrat airbase following a chemical weapons attack which killed dozens of civilians The drones impacted so far were smaller surveillance aircraft, as opposed to the larger Predators and Reapers that often operate in combat environments and can be armed. Last year Donald Trump ordered a Tomahawk missile strike against the Syrian regime's al-Shayrat airbase following a chemical weapons attack which killed dozens of civilians. Russian forces did not shoot down the missile using its air defence systems stationed in the region. At that time the U.S. gave Russia advance warning of that attack through a de-confliction notice. But Russian military brass have signaled that their response could be different. In March, Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, said: 'In the case of a threat to the lives of our servicemen, the Russian military armed forces will take response measures against both the rockets, and the platforms from which they're fired.' By MailOnline reporter and Larisa Brown, Defence and Security Editor for the Daily Mail Advertisement

The WHO also condemned the suspected chemical weapons attack, in which it said an estimated 500 patients went to health facilities with 'signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals.'

'WHO demands immediate unhindered access to the area to provide care to those affected, to assess the health impacts, and to deliver a comprehensive public health response,' Peter Salama, WHO deputy director-general for emergency preparedness and response, said in a statement issued in Geneva.

U.N. aid agencies do not have access to most of the enclave of eastern Ghouta, including Douma, where the alleged attack occurred. The Syrian government has denied responsibility.

But the United States, Britain and France have argued the incident bears all the hallmarks of a strike ordered by the regime of Russia's ally Assad, which has been blamed for previous attacks by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Trump has warned there would be a 'big price to pay,' and Washington's UN ambassador Nikki Haley made it clear that the failure to secure a Security Council vote would not hold America and its allies back.

'Russia has trashed the credibility of the council,' she said. 'Whenever we propose anything meaningful on Syria, Russia vetoes it. It is a travesty.'

Haley dismissed the Russian draft as 'all about protecting the Assad regime' because of provisions that would have required the Security Council to endorse its findings -- in other words, giving Russia a veto over any attempt to apportion blame.

Volunteers spray a man with water at a makeshift hospital in Douma on April 7. International tensions are mounting over possible airstrikes in the wake of the sickening chemical attack

Russia, in turn, vetoed the US-backed motion, which would have re-established an international Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) to probe chemical strikes in Syria and to identify culprits.

Moscow's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused Haley of seeking a vote to provide cover for a Western military strike on Assad, which now seems all the more likely.

'If you took the decision to carry out an illegal military adventure, and we do hope that you will come to your senses, well then you will have to bear responsibility for it,' he said.

Both Trump and his defense secretary Jim Mattis abruptly cancelled upcoming travel plans Tuesday, as the USS Donald Cook – a guided-missile destroyer – moved to within striking range of Syria.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been coordinating closely with Washington, said he would decide on a response 'in the coming days.'

'Our decision will not target allies of the regime or attack anyone but rather attack the regime's chemical capabilities,' he said, insisting he did 'not want an escalation.'

As it looked to head off the threat of Western strikes, Syria said it had invited the OPCW to visit the site of the alleged attack in Douma, a settlement in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta that is falling to the regime after a long and bloody siege.

The OPCW said it would 'shortly' deploy a fact-finding team to Douma for an investigation, but U.S. officials said they were working from their own information and would not necessarily hold back.

Damascus also mobilized overnight Tuesday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said the army had 'put all military positions on alert, including airports and all bases, for a period of 72 hours.'

A source from a pro-regime unit told AFP Tuesday there were 'precautionary measures being taken by the Syrian army, especially the airports and military bases.'

Residents in the capital were also bracing for a potential response.

'I have lived through seven American presidents, but Trump is the craziest and his administration is unbalanced,' said Abu Fadi, 70.

'I think his threats are to be feared, and we should take them seriously.'

In 2017, Trump launched a cruise missile strike against a Syrian air base in retaliation for a sarin attack the UN later pinned on Assad.

The United States, Britain and France have argued the incident bears all the hallmarks of a strike ordered by the regime of Russia's ally Assad, which has been blamed for previous attacks by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

Syria's government has denied accusations of using banned weapons such as chlorine or sarin throughout the country's civil war.

Douma has been heavily bombed by the regime and Russia making it extremely difficult for media, including AFP, to independently verify the claims.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Tuesday the OPCW should be granted unfettered access to investigate.

The OPCW does not have a mandate to establish who is responsible for attacks, and the joint OPCW-UN taskforce that once did was shut down by Russia last year after it blamed the Syria regime.

Damascus agreed to hand over its chemical arsenal in 2013, narrowly avoiding American and French air strikes in retaliation for a suspected sarin attack.

That incident, which killed hundreds, also took place in Eastern Ghouta.

Trump has threatened to respond 'forcefully' to the most recent allegations, saying the U.S. had 'a lot of options militarily' and would decide in the coming days.

The White House said that, in a telephone call, Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May 'agreed not to allow the use of chemical weapons to continue.'