Russia does not rule out agreeing to a military operation in Syria, provided Damascus’ responsibility for using chemical weapons is proven – but only with United 
Nations approval, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday, September 4, according to RIA Novosti.
In an interview with the Associated Press and Russia’s state TV network Channel 1, the Russian president stressed there is still no “exact information” about what exactly happened in Syria, or even that chemical weapons were used at all.
The Russian president described video footage of dead children allegedly killed by the chemical attacks as “horrible,” but said the footage did not provide any answers to his questions about who was responsible. He claimed the video could have been produced by militants linked to al-Qaeda, “which has always been noted for its brutality.”
Putin said if the UN analysis revealed “clear proof” that the Syrian government was responsible for a chemical weapon attack, Russia “would be ready to act in the most decisive and serious manner,” but stressed that military action could only be taken against Damascus following a joint decision by the UN Security Council.
“Any other methods to justify use of force against an independent and sovereign state are unacceptable, and can only be qualified as aggression,” he said.
National Security Advisor Susan Rice told NBC News the Obama administration has “no expectation of losing the vote in Congress” on whether to authorize U.S. military action against Syria, the news agency reported.
In an exclusive interview with Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News, Rice said the White House is “quite confident” that Congress will approve Obama’s plan to launch punitive cruise missile strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
“We think that the Congress of the United States and the American people understand that we have compelling national interests at stake here,” said Rice, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.