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US President Donald Trump is yet to make a final decision on how to respond to a chemical weapons attack in Syria ahead of talks with allies Britain and France.
Key points:
- Mr Trump says he "never said when" the strike would take place
- Russia has called the statements from Washington militaristic
- The French Government says it has proof chemical weapons were used in Douma
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said US officials were "continuing to assess intelligence".
The US President has vowed to take swift and decisive action against Syria since reports of a suspected poison gas attack on a rebel enclave that killed dozens of people.
In a call Mr Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed it was vital to deter further use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Government.
Earlier, Ms May received the backing of her ministers to offer Britain's support for a response to what she has cast as a "barbaric act" that cannot go unchallenged.
Mr Trump is also expected to speak with French President Emmanuel Macron in coming hours.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said a possible attack on his country could trigger regional instability.
"With every victory achieved on the field, the voices of some Western states are raised and actions are intensified in an attempt by them to change the course of events ... these voices and any possible action will contribute nothing but an increase in instability in the region, threatening international peace and security," Mr Assad said according to Syrian state television.
Damascus has denied responsibility for the incident that has widened a rift between the West and Moscow, which backs Syria's Government.
On Wednesday, even though Mr Trump had previously said he would not "broadcast" his moves in Syria, he tweeted that missiles "will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!'".
However US Defence Secretary James Mattis struck a more cautious tone later that day, saying that Washington was still assessing intelligence on the suspected toxic gas attack.
Mr Trump's latest tweet said: "Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!"
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Russia did not want an escalation of the situation in Syria, but said that it could not support "dishonest accusations" and that it had found no evidence of a chemical weapons attack in Douma.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, called statements from Washington militaristic, and said the world should think seriously about the possible consequences of threats.
She said threats by the United States and France were a violation of the UN charter, and that an Israeli air strike had worsened stability in Syria.
France says it has 'proof' of chemical attack
French President Emmanuel Macron said the country had proof the Syrian Government carried out a chemical weapons attack, and would decide whether to strike back when all the necessary information had been gathered.
France was expected to join the United States and Britain in carrying out air strikes or some other form of attack in response.
"We have proof that last week, now 10 days ago, that chemical weapons were used, at least with chlorine, and that they were used by the regime," Mr Macron said.
He did not give details on the evidence or how it was acquired.
"Our teams have been working on this all week and we will need to take decisions in due course, when we judge it most useful and effective," Mr Macron told broadcaster TF1 when asked whether a red line had been crossed.
He said France wanted to remove the Syrian regime's chemical weapons capabilities. When asked whether those would be the targets of strikes he said: "When we decide it, and once we have verified all the information."
Syrian hotline open
As tensions mount between the US and Russia over a possible US strike, the Kremlin said a crisis communications link with the United States meant to avoid an accidental clash over Syria was being used by both sides.
The Kremlin was speaking as British ministers planned to gather to discuss whether to join the United States and France in a possible military attack on Syria that threatens to bring Western and Russian forces into direct confrontation.
Asked whether the so-called deconfliction line between the Russian and US militaries for Syria was being used to avoid potential Russian casualties in the event of a US strike, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters:
"The line is used and it is active. In general the line is used by both sides."
Mr Peskov said the Kremlin was closely following Syria-related announcements from Washington and reiterated a Kremlin call for restraint.
"We continue to consider it extremely important to avoid any steps that could lead to more tension in Syria," Mr Peskov said.
"We believe that would have an extremely destructive impact on the whole Syria settlement process."
Reuters/ABC
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, international-law, world-politics, donald-trump, united-states, syrian-arab-republic, russian-federation
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