Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said any attack on Syria will dampen the chances of holding future peace talks in Geneva. At a joint news conference with his South African counterpart in Moscow, Lavrov said that he doubted the Syrian opposition would be more compliant to foreign pressure after the strikes.

"The contrary is much more likely," Lavrov said. "Now we hear calls on the United States not to restrict itself to localized strikes but to bomb wider and deeper. If the strike announced by the U.S. president do take place - to our deepest regret - I think that despite everything being said at the moment this will throw the prospect of that Geneva-2 forum back further, if not forever."

On Monday, Lavrov again maintained that the information about the alleged chemical weapons attack provided by Washington was not specific enough to be called proof. He noted it was already being questioned by some experts.

Lavrov also vowed to protect international law and the UN Charter against attempts to create so-called "controlled chaos".

Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers urged the U.S. congress not to approve military strikes on Syria. The speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament said he hoped the U.S. congress will take a balanced position given the lack of strong evidence.

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