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Western leaders put off a final decision on military strikes in Syria on Thursday, opting for further consultation between allies.

Donald Trump and Theresa May spoke on the phone on Thursday evening and agreed Bashar al-Assad’s regime had “a pattern of dangerous behaviour” with chemical weapons that cannot go unchallenged. Both leaders are yet to announce what action they will take in Syria alongside France.



The French government said it had “proof” that the Syrian regime was responsible for Saturday’s alleged chemical attack in Damascus, which reportedly killed at least 50 people and injured hundreds, according to president Emmanuel Macron.



The US defence secretary, James Mattis, said Washington was gathering evidence about who carried out the attack and his main concern about the American military response was how to stop the tensions “escalating out of control”.



Preparations for a possible Russian counterattack on the British base RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus were under way on Thursday in the event of US-led military action in Syria.

American TV network NBC reported that blood and urine samples from the victims of Saturday’s attack had traces of a nerve agent and chlorine, indicating that Assad’s government was responsible.

President Trump stepped back from his promise of an imminent missile strike in Syria, tweeting that he “never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”

Inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are set to arrive in Damascus to start an investigation into the chemical attack. They are not due to visit the site of the incident until Saturday, however.

Russia’s UN ambassador said his top diplomatic priority was to avert war in Syria, but he did not rule out the possibility of US-Russian conflict.

Sweden has proposed a draft resolution to UN security council that would include immediately sending a high-level disarmament mission to Syria to address outstanding issues on the use of chemical weapons “once and for all” in a bid to de-escalate the situation.



For a full report on the UK’s response to the Syria crisis, read more here:

Cabinet backs May's call for robust response to Syria crisis Read more

Our correspondents in Washington, Paris and Moscow have the latest on the international perspective:

Syria crisis: US concerned military strike would 'escalate out of control' Read more

For more on the situation inside Syria, read Martin Chulov’s report:

'The US won't win': Damascenes poised for next move in Syria conflict Read more

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