Russia urged its Middle East ally Syria on Tuesday to refrain from using chemical weapons despite its threat to unleash the previously unreported arsenal in case of a foreign attack.The foreign ministry said it "would like to underline that Syria joined" a Geneva protocol on the non-use of such weapons and "presumes that the Syrian authorities will continue to rigorously abide by its assumed international obligations".
Syria's threat Monday drew immediate and sharp condemnation from both the United States and Syrian neighbor and foe Israel.
But Russia took more than a day to formulate a response before issuing a carefully worded statement that demanded compliance with international treaties while not directly blaming Syria for making the threat.
The foreign ministry said "Moscow took note of the Syrian foreign ministry representative's statement" and then pointed out that Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
had signed the 1925 Geneva protocol in 1968.