Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the global criticism of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over a chemical weapons attack which left roughly 100 people dead in the northwestern province of Idlib dead on Tuesday.
Putin said that the reports of attacks on civilians with chemical weapons are "unfounded accusations" during a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday.
"Mr. Putin in particular underlined the unacceptability of making unfounded accusations against anyone before a thorough and impartial international investigation is carried out," the Kremlin said in a statement following the conversation.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu had called Putin to express his condolences over the terrorist bombing in which 14 people were killed on a subway train in St. Petersburg this week.
During the conversation, Netanyahu said that he was "deeply shaken by the chemical weapons attack in Idlib. The international community must complete the effort to clean Syria of chemical weapons as was agreed in 2013."