Donald Trump's targeted military intervention in Syria has been welcomed in western-friendly capitals as a "just" and "proportionate" response to the use of chemical weapons.

France and Germany issued a joint statement saying that Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president "bears full responsibility" for the precision strike which used sea-launched cruise missiles to destroy a Syrian airbase.

Meanwhile Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council welcomed the move and said the EU will "work with the US to end brutality in Syria".