Syria civil war
Body of civilian, whom according to activists, was killed by shelling from forces loyal to Syria's President al-Assad, lies on ground in Bustan Al Qasr - Reuters

Syria's key ally Russia responded strongly to the threat of US President Barack Obama of a military intervention, if the regime resorts to the use of chemical weapons.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the US military intervention would violate the international law.

Lavrov added that Moscow along with its partner Beijing is committed "to the need to strictly adhere to the norms of international law... and not to allow their violation".

Lavrov's threats once again reiterated the wide division existing between western powers and Russia backed by China.

Top Syrian government official also echoed the Russian view.

A top Syrian official snubbed Obama saying his comments are propagandistic threats and it is impossible for the US to intervene.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said, "Direct military intervention is impossible. Those who are contemplating this evidently want to see the crisis expand beyond Syria's borders".

Hinting at a situation where the current civil war could easily spread across the region if US intervenes militarily, he added that the Obama administration is looking for a pretext to interfere.

"The West is looking for an excuse for direct intervention. If this excuse does not work, it will look for another cause," said Jamil.

Although he conceded that the regime is willing to discuss Assad's resignation, he insisted not to have it as the main premise.

Jamil went on to say "Demanding a resignation before the mechanisms will be found for the Syrian people [to express their opinion], is this democratic approach? No, that's an attempt to enforce a certain decision on us."

Quickly responding to Jamil's statement, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said, "We saw the reports of the press conference that the deputy prime minister gave. Frankly, we didn't see anything terribly new there."

Meanwhile, violence in Syrian soil continues with reports of casualties in both sides, Syrian forces and opposition rebels.

Syria's largest city of Aleppo witnessed heavy shelling by the army troops along with reports of skirmishes in other cities also.

Syria's state news agency reported that the 'terrorists' are hit hard in Aleppo and other provinces "during the continued process to eliminate the armed terrorist groups in the province".

Anti-Assad activists say a group of mourners in capital Damascus was also massacred while during a funeral service.