VLADIVOSTOK, September 11. /TASS/. The Kremlin does not take media reports about US airstrikes on Russian troops in Syria seriously any more, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We don’t take media reports seriously because they have completely discredited themselves," he said, commenting on a Wall Street Journal publication. "We focus on official statements," Peskov added.

The Wall Street Journal wrote that "President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has approved the use of chlorine gas in an offensive against the country’s last major rebel stronghold, US officials said, raising the prospects for another retaliatory US military strike." According to the newspaper, "in a recent discussion about Syria, people familiar with the exchange said, President Trump threatened to conduct a massive attack against Mr. Assad if he carries out a massacre in Idlib."

The Wall Street Journal added that "Mr. Trump would again have to consider whether or not to hit targets like Russian air defenses in an effort to deliver a more punishing blow to Mr. Assad's military."