"We once again decisively urge (the United States) not to repeat the mistakes of the past and not to allow actions that go against international law. Any unilateral military action bypassing the United Nations will ... lead to further escalation (in Syria) and will affect the already explosive situation in the Middle East in the most devastating way," the ministry said.
Moscow has urged Western leaders to avoid attempts to a priori force biased conclusions on UN inspectors who will look for evidence of reported chemical weapon attacks in the Syria on August 21.
"We again resolutely urge all those who are trying to force conclusions on the UN experts and who say that armed action against Syria is possible to show common sense and avoid tragic mistakes," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement the text of which is posted on the ministry's website, www.mid.ru.
"Policies on various crises must be based on international law and authentic facts instead of attempts to match surmises and inventions with unilateral geopolitical projects," he said. On Sunday the Syrian government agreed to allow UN inspectors to come to Syria and check allegations of the attacks. "This has become the result of our intensive work with Damascus," Lukashevich said.
Russia on Sunday welcomed Damascus' offer to allow a mission by UN inspectors probing alleged chemical weapons use and warned the West that military action against the Syrian regime would be a "tragic mistake".
"We strongly urge those who, by attempting to impose their own results on the UN experts, are raising the possibility of a military operation in Syria to use their common sense and refrain from committing a tragic mistake," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.
"We are satisfied with the constructive attitude of the Syrian leadership to organizing effective interaction with the UN mission. In our view, it opens up opportunities for careful, unbiased and objective investigations into all circumstances of what happened in the Damascus suburb, something that we have persistently been calling for," he said.
"It is important that the armed opposition that controls some of the areas in the eastern part of Ghouta [the suburb where the alleged attacks took place] should provide security guarantees for the expert mission and should not dare resort to the provocative use of weapons against them as was the case with a UN observer mission last summer. We appeal to everyone who has any influence on Syria's illegal armed groups to put pressure on them for this purpose," the spokesman said.

Syrian government gives green light to UN chemical arms probe
UN chemical weapons experts will visit the site of an alleged poison gas attack in Syria to conduct investigations beginning on Monday, the United Nations said.
Update: Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "has instructed the mission ... currently in Damascus, to focus its attention on ascertaining the facts of the 21 August incident as its highest priority," the UN said in a statement.
"The mission is preparing to conduct on-site fact-finding activities, starting tomorrow, Monday, 26 August."
The UN announcement came shortly after Damascus gave the green light for the inspectors to carry out the probe into the alleged use of chemical weapons near the Syrian capital on Wednesday.
Ban "notes the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic affirmed that it will provide the necessary cooperation, including the observance of the cessation of hostilities at the locations related to the incident," the UN statement said.
"The Secretary-General would like to reiterate that all relevant parties equally share the responsibility of cooperating in urgently generating a safe environment for the mission to do its job efficiently and providing all necessary information."
The UN team arrived in Damascus last week to begin the hard-won mission, which UN officials originally said would last two weeks and cover three sites.
US has 'little doubt' chemical arms used in Syria - senior official
The United States now has little doubt the Syrian government used chemical weapons against civilians last week, and President Barack Obama is studying how to respond, a senior official in the US administration said on Sunday.
"Based on the reported number of victims, reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured, witness accounts, and other facts gathered by open sources, the US intelligence community, and international partners, there is very little doubt at this point that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians in this incident," the official said.
"We are continuing to assess the facts so the president can make an informed decision about how to respond to this indiscriminate use of chemical weapons," the official added.
Syrian government gives green light to UN chemical arms probe
Damascus on Sunday gave the green light for United Nations inspectors to carry out an immediate probe into allegations of chemical weapons use near the capital last week, Syria's foreign ministry said.
"An agreement was concluded today (Sunday) in Damascus between the Syrian government and the United Nations during the visit of the UN high representative for disarmament, Angela Kane, to allow the UN team lead by professor Aake Sellstroem to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Damascus province," a ministry statement said.
The agreement "is effective immediately," it added.
The United Nations and the Syrian government "are to agree on the date and time of the team's visit to the sites on which there has been an agreement," the ministry said.
It said the deal was struck in a meeting between Kane, whose organisation has had a 20-member team of inspectors on the ground in Syria since August 18, and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
"Syria is ready to cooperate with the inspection team to prove that the allegations by terrorist groups (rebels) of the use of chemical weapons by Syrian troops in the Eastern Ghouta region are lies," Muallem was quoted as telling Kane.
Opposition leaders said Friday that UN inspectors would have "unfettered" access to areas under rebel control such as Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus to investigate the use of chemical weapons.
Doctors Without Borders has said 355 people died last week of "neurotoxic" symptoms, after chemical attack on east and southwest of Damascus last Wednesday causing more than 1,300 deaths.
The regime has denied the charges and in turn accused the rebels of using chemical arms.The UN team arrived in the Syrian capital last week to begin a hard-won mission which UN officials originally said would last two weeks and cover three sites.
Al-Nusra threatens to rocket Alawite villages over alleged chemical attack
The head of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front has pledged to target communities from Syria's Alawite faith, followed by President Bashar al-Assad, with rockets in revenge for an alleged chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus, according to an audio recording seen on Sunday.
"For every chemical rocket that had fallen on our people in Damascus, one of their villages will, by the will of God, pay for it," Abu Mohammad al-Golani said in the recording posted on YouTube.
"On top of that we will prepare a thousand rockets that will be fired on their towns in revenge for the Damascus Ghouta massacre."
US strike on Syria will have serious implications for Mideast – Syria’s information minister
A US strike on Syria will have serious implications for the entire Middle East as there will be retaliation, al-Jazeera quoted Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi as saying.
A US strike on Syria will have serious implications for the entire Middle East as there will be retaliation, al-Jazeera quoted Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi as saying.
“They [the United States] will not be able to use the anti-terror struggle as cover. Carrying out an attack on Syria is not like going out for a stroll. There will be a retaliatory strike. As a result, the entire Middle East will be a ball of fire,” al-Zoubi said.
He repeated that “Syrian troops did not use chemical weapons” and that the government would fully cooperate with UN inspectors.
The minister confirmed that a cache containing lots of plastic containers with chemicals produced in Saudi Arabia had been found in a suburb of Damascus.
US prepared to carry out military options on Syria, if Obama chooses
The Pentagon prepares its military options for Syria should President Barack Obama choose to exercise any of them, U.S Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Sunday.
"President Obama has asked the Defense Department to prepare options for all contingencies. We have done that and we are prepared to exercise whatever option; if he decides to employ one of those options," Hagel told reporters during a trip to Malaysia.
US weighs military options for Syria - Hagel
The Pentagon is moving forces into position in the event that President Barack Obama opts for military action against Syria, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel suggested Friday.
Amid calls for military intervention after the Syrian regime allegedly carried out a chemical weapon attack this week, US commanders have prepared a range of "options" for Obama if he chooses to launch an attack on the Damascus regime, Hagel told reporters aboard his plane en route to Malaysia.
US readies possible missile attack on Syrian government forces
Despite President Obama cautioning against intervention in Syria, the Pentagon is making "initial preparations" for a cruise missile strike on Syrian government forces, according to a new report.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey is expected to present options for such a strike at a White House meeting on Saturday, CBS News reported on Friday.
President Barack Obama is under renewed pressure to take action following the emergence of footage of what appears to be the aftermath of a toxic agent attack in a Damascus suburb on Wednesday. The forces of President Bashar Assad were assaulting a rebel stronghold in the district at the time, but deny responsibility. Moscow, which has maintained close ties with the regime, called the incident a rebel "provocation" possibly designed to derail upcoming Geneva peace talks.
Questioned on the continuing upheaval in Syria and Egypt during a CNN interview Friday, President Obama said the United States should be wary of "being drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region."
Obama went on to express reservations for becoming involved in the 30-month Syrian conflict due to a lack of international consensus.
"If the US goes in and attacks another country without a UN mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it, [and] do we have the coalition to make it work?" said Obama.
Despite his cautious tone, Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice said via Twitter, "What is Bashar al Assad hiding? The world is demanding an independent investigation of Wednesday’s apparent CW attack. Immediately."
Adding to the rhetoric in Washington, Sen. John McCain said that if the administration was to "let this go on," it was "writing a blank check to other brutal dictators around the world if they want to use chemical weapons."
Obama insisted to CNN that while the United States remains "the one indispensable nation' in international diplomacy, he suggested that perhaps this was one conflict where the world should not look to Washington for a definitive answer.
"The notion that the US can somehow solve what is a sectarian complex problem inside of Syria sometimes is overstated," said the president.
The White House later released a statement confirming Obama’s words, and emphasizing that the US has no plans to put "boots on the ground.'
US Navy to expand its Mediterranean presence due to Syria
The US Navy will expand its presence in the Mediterranean with a fourth cruise-missile armed warship because of the escalating civil war in Syria, a defense official said on Friday.
The USS Mahan had finished its deployment and was due to head back to its home base in Norfolk, Virginia, but the commander of the U. Sixth Fleet has decided to keep the ship in the region, the defense official said.
The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, stressed that the Navy had received no orders to prepare for any military operations regarding Syria.
US officials are considering a range of options for responding to reports that Syria has used chemical weapons against civilians, including possible cruise missile attacks from the sea, a senior defense official told Reuters earlier.
White House repeats Obama position of no US troops in Syria
President Barack Obama and his advisers are still studying how to respond to an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria, but the White House reiterated the president's position on Friday that he did not expect to send troops to the country.
Obama has said several times he did not expect to have "boots on the ground" in Syria.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest repeated that comment to reporters traveling with Obama on a bus tour of New York and Pennsylvania.
Washington's assistance to Syrian opposition fighters was on an "upward trajectory" that was expanding in scope and scale, Earnest added.
Alleged Syrian chemical attack was 'a pre-planned action' – Russia
Materials implicating the forces of Syrian president Bashar Assad in chemical weapons use near Damascus were prepared prior to the alleged incident on August 21, the Russian foreign ministry said.
Moscow continues to monitor closely the event surrounding the“alleged” chemical attack near Damascus, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aleksandr Lukashevich, said in a statement.
“We’re getting more new evidence that this criminal act was of a provocative nature,” he stressed. “In particular, there are reports circulating on the Internet, in particular that the materials of the incident and accusations against government troops had been posted for several hours before the so-called attack. Thus, it was a pre-planned action.”
The Damascus chemical attack accusations indicate the launch of “another anti-Syrian propaganda wave” and, in this context, the calls on the UN Security Council to immediately use force in Syria “heard from some EU capitals” are “unacceptable”, Lukashevich said.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Assad’s government has demonstrated a “constructive approach” to the chemical weapons issue by allowing UN experts into the country.
But it’s alarming that the “same signals” aren’t coming from the Syrian opposition, which so far hasn’t displayed willingness to ensure the safety and efficient operations of UN investigators on the territory it controls, he said.
“This directly impedes the objective investigation of allegations of possible cases of chemical weapons use in Syria, which is called for by a number of countries and which the Russian side supports,” Lukashevich noted.
The Russian foreign ministry “strongly appeals to those who should put pressure on the opposition, making it take the necessary steps in order to ensure the full realization of the objectives of the international expert mission,” the spokesman said.
The reports of a chemical weapons use in the suburbs of the Ghouta region on the outskirts Damascus appeared in the pro-opposition media on Wednesday, August 21, coinciding with the arrival of the UN investigators to the Syrian capital.
The Islamist rebels claimed that over a 1,000 people, including many children, were killed in the attack, with the government saying that the accusations were fabricated in order to cover up the opposition’s battle losses and undermine the work of the UN mission.
Voice of Russia, RT, Reuters, AFP