Syrian rebels are plotting to mount a poison gas attack in Damascus and blame it on Bashar al-Assad’s government to provide a pretext for further US missile strikes and possible regime change, Vladimir Putin has claimed.

Speaking in Moscow at a joint press conference with Sergio Mattarella, the Italian president, Mr Putin claimed that “a number” of sources had told him about such plans.

"We have information that a similar provocation is being prepared ... in other parts of Syria including in the southern Damascus suburbs where they are planning to again plant some substance and accuse the Syrian authorities of using (chemical weapons)," Mr Putin said when asked if he was concerned about possible further US strikes on Syria.