The looming battle for Idlib, the last major rebel bastion in Syria, sidelined all other issues at news conferences following recent talks in Moscow between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his counterparts from Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Lavrov made it clear at both news conferences that a military operation in Idlib was unavoidable and that there was further progress in Russian-Turkish talks over the issue. However, Moscow is particularly concerned about the US presence on the ground and what the White House’s Syria strategy will be. Lavrov’s remarks at the news conferences actually resembled a virtual debate of sorts with US counterparts. What lent a certain piquancy to the situation is that Saudi Arabia is Washington’s closest Arab ally; however, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir went out of his way not to speak ill of either Moscow or Washington.

Jubeir arrived in Russia amid a heated debate between Moscow and the West surrounding the situation in Idlib. On the eve of the Aug. 29 visit, Russia’s Defense Ministry provided information that the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terror group — still called Jabhat al-Nusra in Russia — has been planning a chemical attack; Russia accused British intelligence agencies of assisting in the plot. This is important because the United States has sternly warned Syria against using chemical weapons in Idlib; Russia has sought to turn the tables by muddying the blame for any such attack.

Lavrov said US officials were trying to “take the heat off Jabhat al-Nusra using every trick in their book, hoping to be able to use it in the fight against what they refer to as the 'regime.'"