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Merkel: Germany will not participate in possible military action in Syria

According to the German chancellor, "a whole range of measures should be considered"

BERLIN, April 12. /TASS/. Germany will not participate in a possible military action in Syria, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Berlin on Thursday.

"Germany will not participate militarily," she said, pointing out that "no decision on that matter has been made yet."

"However, we have been keeping an eye on the situation and we support every effort to emphasize that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable," Merkel said, calling on the West to work together to respond to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta. According to the German chancellor, "a whole range of measures should be considered."

Washington’s threats

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said that Washington had "a lot of options militarily" on Syria. He added that a decision would be made in 24 to 48 hours.

Moscow warned Washington about serious consequences that an attack on Syria could have in case it affected Russians.

Alleged chemical weapons attack

A number of non-government organizations, including the White Helmets, allege that a chemical weapons attack took place in Eastern Ghouta’s town of Douma on April 7.

The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed the statement as a bogus story, while Russia’s Defense Ministry pointed out that the White Helmets were not a reliable source of information as they were known for spreading fabricated news.

On April 9, officers from the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria visited Douma but did not find any traces of chemical weapons.

Russian officials many times warned about impending provocations and staged chemical weapons attacks in Syria.