MOSCOW, March 16 (Xinhua) -- No chemical weapons were used in Syria's Eastern Ghouta, Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said on Friday.
"I would like to reiterate there was not and there is not any chemical weapon used in Eastern Ghouta," Konashenkov said in a statement.
His comment came after some Western media reports on Thursday about the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian settlement of Hamoryah recently.
Konashenkov said the Russian Defense Ministry had been repeatedly informed that militant groups controlled by the United States and Britain were preparing a provocation to accuse Syria and its allies of using chemical weapons.
He said Russian, Western and Arab media representatives working in Hamoryah had interviewed the people who were leaving, asking whether a chemical attack had taken place in the morning.
Not a single resident had heard anything about a chemical attack, he said.
