Russia says Obama 'red line' on Syria provoked attacks
UNITED NATIONS, April 5 Russia said former U.S. President Barack Obama's threat of military action if a "red line" was crossed and chemical weapons were used in Syria had provoked such attacks.
"That decision served as a starting point for future provocations by terrorists and extremist structures with the use of chemical weapons, they sought to discredit the official Damascus regime and to create a pretext for the use of military force against a sovereign state," Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told the U.N. Security Council. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)