Boris Johnson Pulls Out Of Moscow Meeting Over Kremlin Assad Support

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has pulled out of a visit to Moscow in the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack saying "we deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime".

The Foreign Secretary was due to visit Russia on Monday for talks with counterpart Sergey Lavrov, which would have been the first visit by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years.

Mr Johnson attacked the Kremlin and said he would instead focus on building support with allies to secure a ceasefire in war-torn Syria saying:

"We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated."

The United States "drew the line" over Bashar Assad's use of chemical weapons and is "prepared to do more" to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria, senior officials have said.

President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of cruise missiles on a Syrian air base in retaliation for the regime's "barbaric" use of chemical weapons against its own people.

In August 2012, US President Barack Obama said the use of chemical weapons would be a "red line" that would change his stance on intervening in the civil war, but failed to take military action against the regime.

US vice president Mike Pence insisted "we drew the line", according to Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president of the United States.