The British delegation at the world's chemical weapons watchdog said today that samples taken from the alleged attack site tested positive for the nerve agent sarin.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told CNN in an interview to be aired Sunday she sees no possible political solution in Syria as long as President Bashar al-Assad remains in power. Tillerson has a meeting set later Wednesday in Moscow with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
In Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US missile strike was a "a strategic error, and a repeat of the mistakes of the past", the state news agency IRNA reported.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, meanwhile, blamed Russian inaction for helping fuel the chemical weapons attack it had reacted to, saying Moscow had failed to carry out a 2013 agreement to secure and destroy chemical weapons in Syria.
Mr Lavrov said the United States strike on the Syrian base has undermined peace efforts in Syria and reflected Washington's focus on ousting Mr Assad's government.
They also see Russian Federation as a foreign occupier whose relentless aerial bombardment of rebel-held areas has led to thousands of civilian casualties.
The vote on the Security Council resolution drafted by Britain, France and the United States was 10 in favor, Russian Federation and Bolivia against, and China, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia abstaining.
At the talks with Iran and Syria, Mr Lavrov accused the U.S. and its allies of what he described as attempts to stymie an global probe into the attack.
Afghan officials: 36 Islamic State fighters killed by US bomb
The United Nations has raised concerns that the American air campaign is swelling civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Officials tell NBC that destroyers, heavy bombers and an aircraft carrier have been positioned to strike.
However, Vladimir Safronkov, Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said he was "amazed at this conclusion". "I suggest you look at this vote very carefully and heed this warning", she added. "The investigation into this high-profile incident must be transparent and leave no doubt that someone is trying to hide something".
The chemical weapons attack in Syria that triggered retaliatory American airstrikes hasn't shifted US priorities toward ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad, top Trump administration officials said.
"The results will not come quickly", Lavrov said. But he says the U.S.is confident that the attack was planned, directed and executed by Syrian regime forces. Russian Federation denies that and says that this needs to be investigated.
"We discussed our view that Russian Federation as their closest ally in the conflict perhaps has the best means of helping Assad recognize this reality", he said.
In another warning to Washington, the Russian military has pledged to help Syria beef up its air defenses.
He said the United States expected Russian Federation to take a tougher stance against Syria by rethinking its alliance with Assad because "every time one of these horrific attacks occurs, it draws Russian Federation closer into some level of responsibility". "We can not talk about openly any complicity between the Russians and the Syrian regime in this - in this case, but we're carefully assessing any information that would implicate the Russians knew or assisted with the Syrian capability".
US President Donald Trump offered an olive branch to Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, even as Washington and Moscow clashed over Russia's alleged US election interference and Syria's brutal conflict.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson answers a question during a joint press conference with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (not pictured) following their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, April 6, 2017. Russia, Syria and Iran have strongly warned the United States against launching new strikes on Syria.
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