Story highlights "Russia's failure to resolve the chemical weapons issue in Syria calls into question its relevance to the resolution to the overall crisis," said Tillerson

Tillerson was addressing a meeting of high-ranking diplomats in Paris

(CNN) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called out Russia on Tuesday for its failure to hold the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable for using chemical weapons against his people.

"Russia's failure to resolve the chemical weapons issue in Syria calls into question its relevance to the resolution to the overall crisis," said Tillerson, who called on Russia to stop using its veto power to block United Nations Security Council actions related to the Assad regime's use of such weapons.

Tillerson was addressing a meeting of high-ranking diplomats in Paris as part of a new international effort to address the use of chemical weapons.

Most recently, Tillerson said more than 20 civilians, most of them children "were victims of an apparent chlorine gas attack" on Monday in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus, Syria. "Whoever conducted the attacks, Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the victims in East Ghouta, and countless other Syrians targeted with chemical weapons since Russia became involved in Syria."

"The recent attacks in East Ghouta raise serious concerns that Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime may be continuing its use of chemical weapons against its own people," he said.

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