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Mr Lavrov said in a press conference on Friday: “We have irrefutable evidence that this was yet another performance and that security services of a country which is trying to be in the frontlines of the Russophobic campaign were involved in this performance.”

He announced that Russian experts had examined the site of the alleged attack in the city, and found no trace of chemical weapons.

But Mr Lavrov failed to mention the country he alleges is spearheading a Russo-phobic campaign with the “fabrication”.

The foreign minister’s comments come after the US and several of its allies accused Damascus of using chemical gas during an offensive in Douma, killing up to 70 people.

US President Donald Trump also accused Russia and Iran of aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and promised to make a decision within 48 hours on his response to the alleged chemical weapons attack, threatening to launch “nice and new” missiles at Syria.

According to the foreign minister, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) experts left to Syria “not very quickly, without excessive enthusiasm” and only under pressure from Russia and Syria.