Russian Federation vetoes United Nations resolution on Syria

President Trump said Wednesday it's "unlikely" that Russian Federation had prior knowledge of Syria's plan to launch a chemical attack on its own citizens, but he did not rule out the possibility. The United States and other Western governments blame Assad's regime.

The US-along with France and the UK-had sought to pass a resolution condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria and calling for a full probe into last week's attack only to have it vetoed by Russian Federation during a meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, the Hill reports.

Tillerson denied knowledge that Russian Federation was somehow involved in the chemical attack, but said: "What we do know...is that the attack was planned [and] carried out by the regime forces of Bashar al-Assad".

"Our impression is that the West, mainly the United States, is hand-in-glove with the terrorists", Assad said, according to the wire service.

Echoing charges by Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Toner said there can be little doubt that the chemical weapons attack in Idlib province was carried out by Syrian government forces.

The interview comes as the USA military says a misdirected airstrike this week killed 18 allied fighters battling the Islamic State group in northern Syria.

Boris Johnson has urged Russian Federation to stop "acting as a lifeline for Assad's murderous regime" in Syria and instead to "live up to its responsibilities as a global power".

Earlier on Wednesday, after holding talks with the US secretary of state, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said some progress had been made on Syria, and a working group would be set up to examine the poor state of US-Russia ties.

Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 under severe global pressure following a deadly chemical attack on a Damascus suburb. "They were there. We'll find that out", he said.

"You can't just ask Russian Federation to redefine its interests", he said, adding that "Putin doesn't do favors". In this case, the message to Assad and his supporters in Moscow and Tehran is that every action will have consequences, especially when chemical weapons are involved.

"The global community has spoken".

Samples taken from Khan Sheikhoun last week tested positive for the nerve agent sarin, the British delegation at the global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW said on Thursday. Putin's decision to host Tillerson signaled Moscow's intent to maintain communication with the US even as the countries bash each other publicly in louder and louder tones.

President Donald Trump painted a bleak picture of U.S. -Russia relations Wednesday, saying that the relationship between the two nations may be at an "all-time low".

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that OPCW inspectors should visit both the Syrian air base, which the US said served as a platform for the attack, and Khan Sheikhoun to get a full and objective picture.

"We invited the inspectors to hold an investigation".

Tillerson reiterated the U.S. belief that Assad ordered the attack, though he stepped back from the United States charge that Russia was covering up Assad's culpability."With respect to Russia's complicity or knowledge of the chemical weapons attack, we have no firm information to indicate that there was any involvement by Russia, Russian forces into this attack", he said.