Apr 21, 2017

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voiced "regret" in a phone call with his US counterpart at Washington's opposition to a Moscow-backed plan to investigate an alleged chemical attack in Syria.

In the call with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson which "took place at US initiative," Lavrov raised the probe proposal made by Russia and Iran at the global chemical arms watchdog, the OPCW, said the Russian foreign ministry.

Western nations have accused the Syrian regime of carrying out the suspected April 4 air strike. But Moscow and Tehran, allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have sought to clear Damascus of blame.

During the Friday call Lavrov notably "expressed regrets about the opposition of the United States at the (OPCW) to an initiative... to send inspectors to Syria to verify reports of the use of sarin gas in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun" which left 87 dead, including many children.

Lavrov and Tillerson "agreed to examine again a possibility of opening an objective probe into this incident under the auspices of the OPCW," the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said a ministry statement.