MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. Washington’s acknowledgement that terrorists use chemical weapons in Idlib is vital as it exonerates Syrian authorities, senior Russian legislator Frantz Klintsevich told reporters on Friday.

Earlier, Western states repeatedly accused Damascus of using chemical weapons, even against civilians in Syria. The US State Department has admitted for the first time that Jabhat al-Nusra (terror group, outlawed in Russia) terrorists not only possess chemical weapons, but also use them in the Idlib province.

"Certainly, the mere fact that the United States has finally acknowledged that terrorists in Syria use chemical weapons, something we already said a long time ago, is very important. It is imperative first of all in psychological terms. I think this will clear the current Syrian authorities of any last suspicions," said Frantz Klintsevich, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee for Defense and Security.

This will once again confirm that Russia has a very honest position in the Middle East, he emphasized.

However, it’s unlikely that this will change US policy on supporting the Syrian opposition. "I’m afraid that for the US this step may be just an episode, and this won’t change anything in its policy. I mean first of all the covert and often explicit support for the opposition, which is basically difficult to distinguish from the militants," he noted.

"For abandoning this support, a serious shift in Washington’s entire Middle East policy would have to occur, but no serious signs of that is being seen now," Klintsevich stressed.