Russian president Vladimir Putin has denounced an air strike on Syria by the United States and its allies as an "act of aggression" that will exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in the country.

In a statement issued by the Kremlin, the Russian leader said Moscow is calling an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the strike launched by the US, Britain and France.

Read: Syrians gather in capital in defiance after air strikes

Mr Putin added that the strike had a "destructive influence on the entire system of international relations".

He reaffirmed Russia's view that the purported chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma that prompted the strike was a fake.

Mr Putin added that Russian military experts who inspected Douma found no trace of a chemical attack. He criticised the US and its allies for launching the strike without waiting for inspectors from the international chemical weapons watchdog to visit the area.

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