RUSSIA accused Western powers yesterday of abandoning talks on ending Syria’s civil war in favour of backing regime change in the country.

On Thursday, Western delegations to the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) rejected a call from Russia and Iran for a new probe into the alleged nerve gas attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Speaking at a press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana yesterday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said those governments had given “no explanations” for their opposition.