The Russian military says it will deploy troops to the Syrian town of Douma that was the site of a purported chemical weapons attack over the weekend.

Lt. Gen. Viktor Poznikhir of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces said on Wednesday that Russian military police will deploy to Douma on Thursday to ensure the security of the town.

"As of tomorrow, Russian military police units will be deployed to the city of Douma to ensure security, maintain law and order and arrange assistance to the local population," he said.

Poznikhir said that 41,213 people, including 3,354 rebels and 8,642 members of their families have left Douma with the Russian military's assistance.

The Russian military also said that it was closely watching the situation around Syria and was aware of the movements of a U.S. naval force in the Gulf.

In an apparent response to U.S. President Donald Trump's comments about a possible U.S. missile attack on Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry also said in a statement that Washington would do better to rebuild the destroyed Syrian city of Raqqa rather than talk about its readiness carry out such strikes.