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".
Boris Johnson, the British foreign secretary, is pushing for the group, which comprises the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, to call for Russian Federation to drop backing for the country's president Bashar al-Assad or face tough new sanctions, The Times reported.
The attack has been widely blamed on the Syrian government.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday condemned as "flagrant USA aggression on Syria" a US missile strike on a on a Syrian air base this week and criticised Gulf Arab states for supporting it, state television reported.
"This latest war crime happened on their watch". Despite intense worldwide pressure, Assad has clung to power since a civil war broke out in his country six years ago, helped by financial and military support from both Russian Federation and Iran. "Russian Federation must show the resolve necessary to bring this regime to heel".
The defence secretary said Syria needed a government in which Mr Assad played no part. He acknowledged achieving that was "not easy, but not impossible".
In the southern city of Daraa, jets believed to be Russian escalated strikes on Free Syrian Army (FSA) and jihadist groups on Saturday and Sunday in an attempt to roll back their gains in the Manshiya district where battles have been raging for almost two months. Once that threat "has been reduced or eliminated, I think we can turn our attention directly to stabilizing the situation in Syria", he said. "We now need a long-term solution to this conflict".
United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley is not messing around.
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"Part of the discussions when I visit Moscow next week is to call upon Foreign Minister Lavrov and the Russian government to fulfill the obligation it made to the global community when it agreed to be the guarantor of the elimination of the chemical weapons and why Russia has not been able to achieve that is unclear to me".
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meanwhile plans to meet with G-7 foreign ministers in Europe next week before going on to Moscow.
The new airstrikes killed one woman and wounded one other person in Khan Sheikhoun, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The figures come from Idlib's opposition-run health authority.
"The Americans believed there were no peaceful means of stopping Assad using gas against his population".
Washington has presented "no evidence whatsoever" yet that the Shayrat airfield in Syria's Homs Province targeted by the United States after an alleged chemical attack in Idlib had any such weapons, the Russian Defense Ministry said. At least six people are reported to have died.
In response, Syria's ally Russian Federation accused the United States of encouraging "terrorists" with unilateral actions.
The decision undercut another campaign promise for Trump: his pledge to try to warm relations with Moscow.
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