Russia: Strike on Syria Can Have 'Catastrophic Consequences'

Russia on Tuesday warned a military intervention in Syria could have "catastrophic consequences" for the region and called on the international community to show "prudence" over the crisis.

"Attempts to bypass the Security Council, once again to create artificial groundless excuses for a military intervention in the region are fraught with new suffering in Syria and catastrophic consequences for other countries of the Middle East and North Africa," the foreign ministry said.

"We are calling on our American partners and all members of the world community to demonstrate prudence (and) strict observance of international law, especially the fundamental principles of the U.N. Charter."

Also Tuesday, Russia said it regretted a decision by the United States to shelve a meeting on the Syria crisis this week.

The scrapping of the planned meeting in The Hague is the latest sign of a new peak in tensions between Moscow and the West over the possibility of military strikes against President Bashar Assad's regime.

"It arouses regret that our partners decided to cancel the bilateral meeting" involving senior diplomats from both sides, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov wrote on Twitter.

He added such talks would have been particularly useful at a time "when military action is hanging over this country".

Western countries including the United States are considering their response to an alleged chemical weapons attack by Assad's regime on August 21.

U.S. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Ambassador Robert Ford were due to meet with a Russian delegation in The Hague to discuss progress towards organizing a peace conference on Syria.

A senior U.S. State Department official said that the sides would work to "reschedule" the meeting although Gatilov said the encounter had simply been cancelled.