From our viewpoint, it seems absolutely absurd that the armed forces, the regular armed forces, which are on the offensive today and in some areas have encircled the so-called rebels and are finishing them off — that in these conditions they would start using forbidden chemical weapons, while realizing quite well that it could serve as a pretext for applying sanctions against them, including the use of force.

Vladimir Putin, Interview with The Associated Press and Russia's state Channel 1 television, Sep 03, 2013