The United States, the United Kingdom and France are pushing for an "irreversible" end to Syria's chemical weapons programme, amid furious recriminations from Russia over the effectiveness and legality of a wave of US-led missile strikes on Syrian targets, report agencies.
UN diplomats shared with CNN a new resolution, led by France and backed by the US and the UK, calling for an independent investigation into the suspected chemical weapons attack inside Syria that precipitated the cruise missile strikes unleashed by the Western allies Friday.
France's ambassador to the United Nations, Francois Delattre, said Syria's chemical weapons programme must be dismantled in a "verifiable and irreversible way."
The renewed push for a UN-backed diplomatic solution follows a volatile emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, called by Moscow Saturday, with Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, condemning the joint US-British-French strikes as a violation of international law.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his having hailed a US and allied strike in Syria as "Mission Accomplished."
The phrase immediately evoked former president George W. Bush's premature Iraq victory speech on board the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 01, 2003.
A banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" loomed in the background as Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, a claim belied by the years of hard fighting that followed.
Trump resurrected the phrase in a tweet Saturday after the strikes launched by US, British and French forces in response to an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian regime that killed more 40 people in a rebel-held town near Damascus.
Report from Moscow adds: New Western air strikes in Syria would provoke "chaos" in international relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Sunday.
Speaking to Rouhani by telephone the day after US-led strikes on suspected chemical weapons facilities, Putin said "if such actions, carried out in violation of the United Nations Charter, are repeated, that would inevitably provoke chaos in international relations," according to a statement from the Kremlin.
Another report adds: Air strikes in Syria were about saying "enough is enough" over the use of chemical weapons, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said.
Mr Johnson said the action by the US, UK and France would not "turn the tide" of the conflict and was not about regime change.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged all Security Council members to show restraint, as US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told the meeting that Washington remains "locked and loaded" to respond to any future Syrian chemical attacks.
Outside of the UN, protests against the strikes were held around the worldSaturday, including in major cities in the US, Mexico, Greece and the UK.
Investigators from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in Syria on Saturday to begin their investigation into the alleged chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma.
The team met with Syrian authorities in Damascus at 7:0 pm local time on Saturday, according to Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari.
US officials said on Saturday they were confident both chlorine and sarin gas were used in the attack. Both the Syrian and Russian governments have denied Damascus' involvement in the attack.
Earlier on Saturday, a Russian resolution at the UN Security Council condemning the US-led strikes was voted down, gaining support from just two other members, China and Bolivia.
US Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a press briefing Saturday the strikes would set back Syria's chemicals weapons capability for years.
He described the attack as "precise, overwhelming and effective," saying they had targeted a scientific research center and two chemical weapons storage facilities on Friday.
Satellite photos obtained by CNN of the areas targeted by the US, UK and French strikes showed extensive damage from the 105 missiles fired at the facilities.
But Russia and Syrian authorities have disputed the assessment of the Pentagon, saying instead the vast majority of the incoming missiles were shot down by the country's military forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry said only seven missiles had reached two Syrian military airfields and that "no serious damage to infrastructure was inflicted."
Syrian state television said three civilians were wounded in Homs as a result of the strikes. In the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May sought to shore up international support for the strikes, calling on the leaders of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Italy Germany, Australia and Canada, according to a statement from Downing Street.
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