Russia on Tuesday said it regretted a decision by the United States to shelve a meeting on the Syria crisis this week in The Hague

Russia on Tuesday said it regretted a decision by the United States to shelve a meeting on the Syria crisis this week in The Hague, as expectations mount of military action against the Damascus 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".

US 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 US State Department official said that the sides would work to "reschedule" the meeting although Gatilov said the encounter had simply been cancelled. "Working out the parameters of a political solution in Syria would have been especially helpful right now, when military action is hanging over this country," Gatilov said on Twitter.
   
The comments came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned the "hysteria" over the claimed chemical attack and said Western countries have yet to come up with any proof that the Assad regime was behind it.
   
Russian President Vladimir Putin told British Prime Minister David Cameron in a telephone call on Monday that there was no evidence yet that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons against rebels, Cameron's office said.