US Defense Secretary James Mattis has said that while defeating ISIS was first priority, further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime would not be tolerated and could warrant additional military action.
He says the US missile strikes on a Syrian air base following accusations that Syria's government's used chemical weapons that killed dozens of people last week "strongly resembles the developments of 2003".
The twin events of a horrific chemical attack on Syrian civilians, combined with USA airstrikes, have created new momentum in pursuing a long-term political solution to the Syrian civil war, Freeland told a conference call.
Leading up to the US missile attack, Trump's administration had said that Assad's future was up to the Syrian people.
Russian Federation has insisted it was Syrian rebels - Assad's forces - that were responsible for the chemical weapons.
Mattis said that if Syria were to use chemical weapons again it would "pay a very, very stiff price". "Or Russia can maintain its alliance with this group, which we believe is not going to serve Russia's interests longer term".
It marked the first time Washington has intervened directly against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who is fighting a civil war with the backing of Russian Federation and Iran, and the G7 ministers will deliberate the West's next steps.
He hit back at remarks Tillerson made a day earlier that Russian Federation would have to decide whether it was with the United States and the West in standing up against Assad, or against them, describing the comments as "wrong choices". As Tillerson arrived in Moscow, President Donald Trump declared Assad "an animal".
"What we are focused on is building global support for a political solution to end the conflict and bring lasting peace and stability to Syria", Mrs May's spokesman said.
Haley, the United Nations envoy, said removing Assad from power was a priority, whereas Tillerson said he merely "hoped" the Syrian people would choose to oust Assad and reiterated that defeating ISIS was the US' first priority in Syria.
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They were, however, perhaps unfortunate not to win a penalty late on when Nacho Monreal touched the ball with his hand. I think he has a scan today and we'll know much more tomorrow". "But we forgot a little bit to play".
"Nor can we accept the normalisation of the use of chemical weapons by other actors or countries in Syria or elsewhere", he added. He says that makes it hard to have clarity about US positions. He was referring to widespread vacancies throughout the top State Department leadership that has fueled a perception in the USA that Tillerson and his agency are being sidelined by Trump.
The United States has been conducting air strikes Islamic State militants in the region since 2014.
The duration of the meeting is not defined, but usually the talks of Russian and USA officials last for several hours and sometimes end late at night.
Russia's foreign ministry says it hopes for "productive talks" with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, as Tillerson heads to Moscow in his first visit to Russian Federation as the top U.S. diplomat.
The Kremlin previously refused to say whether Putin would meet with Tillerson in Moscow.
Tillerson, on a mission to persuade Russian Federation to abandon Assad, issued an ultimatum to Putin before flying to Moscow: Either side with the US and likeminded countries, or with Assad, Iran and the militant group Hezbollah.
Tillerson also spoke by phone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, whose government insists Assad should play no role in Syria's future.
The interview was broadcast as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held his first meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
But the agenda is now likely to be dominated by last week's suspected chemical weapons attack that killed at least 87 civilians.
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