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.

The British delegation tweeted: “The OPCW executive council has overwhelmingly rejected the Russian and Iranian decision which attempted to undercut the FFM [fact-finding mission].”

Mr Lavrov said: “It’s obvious that false information about the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government is being used to move away from implementing Resolution 2254.”

The landmark December 2015 UN security council resolution committed nations to support peace talks between the Syrian government and insurgents, who were supposed to break their alliances with Isis and al-Qaida terrorists.

Mr Lavrov said the attack on the al-Qaida stronghold was being used as a pretext “to switch to the long-cherished idea of regime change.”

And US Defence Secretary James Mattis repeated Israel’s claims on Wednesday that Syria still possessed tons of chemical weapons despite the UN-confirmed destruction of its stockpile.