Dutch 'not considering' joining possible military action in Syria

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday said the Netherlands is not considering joining possible military action in Syria, even though it is probable that banned chemical weapons were used by the government.

"We have understanding for a possible reaction, but at this time it is not on the table that the Netherlands would participate", Rutte said.

The Assad regime has been blamed for a chemical attack Saturday night in the city of Douma in Eastern Ghouta, killing 78 civilians and injuring hundreds of others, according to the White Helmets civil defense agency.

Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow's ambassador to the United Nations, said he "cannot exclude" war between the United States and Russia.

"The immediate priority is to avert the danger of war," he told reporters. "We hope there will be no point of no return."

U.S. President Donald Trump and his national security aides on Thursday discussed U.S. options on Syria, where he has threatened missile strikes in response to a suspected poison gas attack, as a Russian envoy voiced fears of wider conflict between Washington and Moscow.

Worries about a confrontation between Russia, Syria's big ally, and the West have been running high since Trump said on Wednesday that missiles "will be coming" in response to the attack in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7, and lambasted Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump tempered those remarks on Thursday and even as he consulted allies such and Britain and France, who could join in any U.S.-led strikes on Syria, there were signs of efforts to prevent the crisis from spiraling out of control.

"Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!" Trump wrote on Twitter, raising the prospect that an attack might not be as imminent as he seemed to suggest the day before.