Russia knew Syrian chemical attack was coming

Live footage from the scene showed tall clouds of black smoke billowing just over the tarmac.

It also is unclear if Trump, who has expressed skepticism about multilateral institutions such as the European Union and United Nations, will have patience for the protracted negotiations that a comprehensive deal on Syria would require.

On Monday Tillerson raised fresh expectations for aggressive USA action – and not only in Syria – as he visited the site of a World War II Nazi massacre in central Italy, saying the US would hold to account “all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world”.

Last week’s USA strike on a Syrian air base destroyed a fifth of President Bashar al-Assad’s working warplanes, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said today.

In defending President Barack Obama’s decision not to enforce his chemical weapons “red line” against Syria in 2013, Obama and other former officials repeatedly pointed to a U.S. -Russia agreement to remove Syrian stockpiles as proof that the president got results without resorting to a military response. Putin even awarded Tillerson the Order of Friendship. “We are still paying the price”, Alfano said, referring to the lawlessness that has ensued since the killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and the subsequent flow of migrants to Europe via Italy.

But there was no escaping the here and now, with the attack in Syria still fresh on everyone’s mind.

“Crucially, they could do so again”, Johnson said.

The way forward in Syria can’t include Assad, whose recent chemical attack against his own people were abetted by those countries – Russian Federation and Iran – that have allowed him to remain in power, Trudeau told a news conference.

Moscow has dismissed suggestions that the Syrian government that it backs could be behind the attack in Idlib province.

“It reminds me of the events in 2003 when US envoys to the Security Council were demonstrating what they said were chemical weapons found in Iraq”, Putin told reporters on Tuesday.

While the conflict in Syria had always been on the docket for the G-7 talks, which serve as a warm-up of sorts for a bigger summit in late May, original plans had also included conversations about other global flashpoints such as Iraq, Libya and Ukraine.

Russian Federation and Iran – Assad’s two principal global backers – warned on Sunday that they would respond “with force” to any fresh attack on their ally.

“I’m hopeful that we can have constructive talks with the Russian government, with Foreign Minister Lavrov and have Russia be supportive of a process that will lead to a stable Syria”, Tillerson told ABC’s “The Week” on Sunday.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to travel to Moscow this week and the spokeswoman for May said the two leaders had agreed during their conversation that the visit was an opportunity to make progress towards a solution. But Tillerson also said that the top USA priority in the region remains the defeat of Islamic State militants.

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter conducts strike operations against Syria while in the Mediterranean Sea. Under President Barack Obama, the United States accused Russian Federation of supporting Assad in war crimes against civilians and of employing a sophisticated disinformation campaign to protect its ally.

Tillerson said Tuesday that Russian Federation must choose between aligning itself with the US or with Assad and Iran.

The Group of Seven industrialized nations on Tuesday urged Russian Federation to pressure the Syrian government to end the six-year civil war, but rejected a British call to impose new sanctions on Moscow over its support of President Bashar Assad.

“There is no question that anyone who is guilty of the types of war crimes against innocents, against children, that Assad and his regime are needs to be held to account”, he said during a visit to Juno Beach to commemorate Canada’s Second World War dead.

The results were announced as the Russian military said the Syrian government is willing to let worldwide experts examine its military base for signs of chemical weapons.

The Trump administration official also contended that the Assad regime had a limited future.

“Now I think is an opportunity for Russian Federation to make that break and to use its influence with Assad to push the Assad regime to fairly participate in political negotiations that can bring peace to Syria”.