"All indications are that chemical weapons have been used," said the Chancellor at a press conference in Meseberg. In view of the responsibility of the Assad regime, Angela Merkel pointed out that "weighty indications" exist that "point to the Syrian regime". All further assessments must proceed on this basis.

Emergency meeting of UN yields no results

The Chancellor expressed her regret that it had not proved possible to reach agreement within the UN Security Council on the American proposal that "a UN facility conduct investigations directly at the scene of the attack".

Earlier, government spokesperson Steffen Seibert had already condemned the toxic gas attack in Syria in the strongest possible terms, and described Syria’s actions as "abhorrent and inhuman". The violation of elementary rules of international humanitarian law must not go unpunished, and those responsible must be called to account, he said.

The use of chemical weapons is reminiscent of the incident on 4 April 2017, when chemical weapons were used in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, resulting in many deaths and injuries among the civilian population. All investigations to date indicate that the Syrian regime was responsible.

Russia must accept its responsibility

The government spokesperson stressed that Russia, in its capacity as one of Assad’s main backers must stop blocking the work of the United Nations Security Council and help investigations. "Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and thus bears a high level of responsibility," said Steffen Seibert.