GETTY Vladimir Yakunin said he was 'very much concerned' with the escalating tensions in Syria

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Mr Yakunin, the former President of Russian Railways, said he was “very much concerned” with the current situation in Syria after Russia's ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkinhad, warned Russia would shoot down US rockets and “even the sources that launched the missiles”. He said: “If we are talking about the Cold War, I suppose now the world is turning on the border of a real hot war.” The comments came after President Trump and US allies threatened to launch military action against Syria following a chemical attack in Douma. Questioned whether Vladimir Putin feels a necessity to “retaliate against the retaliation”, Mr Yakunin said simply: “We are living in a world of fake information.”

If we are talking about the Cold War, I suppose now the world is turning on the border of a real hot war Vladimir Yakunin

Mr Davis then retorted, saying: “Yes we are. We are living in a world where Russia says there hasn’t been a chemical attack. “They also said there hadn’t been a chemical attack last year. “They voted again in the UN yesterday and vetoed the idea of an independent investigation, and the independent investigation we had last year found that there had been a chemical attack. “And it was Assad, surprise surprise.” Questioned on last year’s independent investigation and whether the West had a sufficient burden of proof to launch a military intervention against the Assad regime, Mr Yakunin cited the Iraq War.

Russian jet shot down in Syria's Idlib province, pilot killed Sun, February 4, 2018 Rebel fighters shot down the Russian warplane and captured the pilot, who was later killed after he fought the rebels Play slideshow EPA 1 of 11 People walk amidst the rubble of the Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet scattered on the ground

He said: “There was the Iraq war, and there was the assumption that they possessed the military capability of mass destruction, and finally there was nothing of the kind. Yet when pushed on whether Russia would condemn any of the attacks in Syria, he said: “If there is any proof of real attack, I will be the first to condemn this. “I am condemning the attempt to assassinate people here, Skripal and his daughter.” Mr Yakunin, however, stressed that he does not believe all the accusations which are being levelled at Russia. He said: “I cannot buy everything which I am reading and seeing now just because experts say it was produced by Russia.

GETTY Mr Yakunin believes the world is on the brink of a 'hot war'