Donald Trump has appeared to soften his stance on airstrikes in Syria, tweeting Thursday morning that he 'never said when' an attack on the war-torn country would take place.
The president's full message said: 'Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our "Thank you America?"'
Tensions continue to build over the Syria crisis in the wake of Saturday's horrifying chemical attack on a rebel-held town that left at least 40 dead and others gasping for air.
Trump dramatically escalated the rhetoric over the crisis yesterday by telling Russia to 'get ready' for military action, adding that 'nice and new and smart' cruise missiles 'will be coming.'
He warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin not to partner with dictator Bashar al-Assad, who he described as a 'gas killing animal.'
But Russia's ambassador to Lebanon said his country was ready to target U.S. planes and ships if they fire at Syrian regime forces.
Defense Secretary James Mattis struck a more cautious tone later on Wednesday, saying that Washington was still assessing intelligence on the suspected toxic gas attack.
Trump repeatedly condemned his predecessor Barack Obama during the 2016 campaign for forecasting his military plans. During one speech, he said, 'We must as a nation be more unpredictable. We are totally predictable. We tell everything.'
One of Trump's allies, French President Emmanuel Macron, said this morning that he would respond to 'proof' that Assad's regime had used chemical weapons, 'at a time of our choosing.'
'We have proof that ... chemical weapons were used, at least chlorine, and that they were used by the regime of Bashar al-Assad,' Macron said during an interview with France's TF1 television.
'France will in no way allow an escalation or anything that would harm regional stability, but we cannot allow regimes that believe they can act with impunity to violate international law in the worst possible way,' he added.
Macron said that he would respond 'at a time of our choosing, when we judge it to be the most useful and the most effective.'
The Kremlin said Thursday that a crisis hotline with the U.S., designed to avoid an accidental clash over Syria, was being used by both sides as tensions mount over a possible American strike on Moscow's key Middle East ally.
British ministers planned to gather Thursday to discuss whether to join America and France in a possible military attack on Syria that threatens to bring Western and Russian forces into direct confrontation.
Asked whether the so-called deconfliction line between the Russian and U.S. military forces was being used to avoid potential Russian casualties in the event of a U.S. strike in Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: 'The line is used and it is active. In general the line is used by both sides.'
Peskov said the Kremlin was closely following Syria-related announcements from Washington and reiterated a Kremlin call for restraint.
'We continue to consider it extremely important to avoid any steps that could lead to more tension in Syria. We believe that would have an extremely destructive impact on the whole Syria settlement process,' said Peskov.
The UN has warned Russia and the US against letting the crisis over the Syrian gas attack 'spiral out of control.'
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (pictured today with Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) warned on Thursday that threats of Western military action in response to an alleged chemical attack would only lead to further chaos in the region
Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that time was running out, adding: 'Today, I called the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the Security Council to reiterate my deep concern about the risks of the current impasse and stressed the need to avoid the situation spiraling out of control,' he said, referring to the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain.
Meanwhile, Assad warned Thursday that threats from Western military action in response to an alleged chemical attack would only lead to further chaos in the region.
'These voices, and any possible actions, will only contribute to further destabilization in the region,' Assad said.
His comments, made as he received Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign policy advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were posted on the Syrian president's social media accounts.
He said Western threats were based on 'lies' and seek to undermine his forces' recent advances near Damascus.
The U.S. and its allies threatened military action after a gas attack by government forces over the weekend that Syrian opposition activists and medics say killed more than 40 people. The Syrian government has denied the allegations.
Russia, a key ally of Assad, says government forces have taken full control of the town of Douma, the last rebel holdout in the region and the scene of Saturday's alleged attack. Pictured: People being evacuated from the town overnight amid reports 85 buses and vehicles carrying 3,860 militants and civilians have arrived in Aleppo
Assad said Thursday that Western countries were lashing out after they lost their 'bet' on opposition forces in the eastern Ghouta suburbs of the capital.
Russia, a key ally of Assad, says government forces have taken full control of the town of Douma, the last rebel holdout in the region and the scene of Saturday's alleged attack.
Kremlin-backed news agency Tass reported a Moscow official saying that Russian military police will be deployed to the city to maintain law and order.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had said it intended to send investigators to Douma to look for evidence of a chemical attack.
Both Syria and Russia have said reports of the attack were fabricated by rebels and rescue workers in the town and have accused the U.S. of seeking to use it as a pretext to attack the government.
Bouthaina Shaaban, a top adviser to Assad, described the army's recapture of eastern Ghouta as a 'decisive point' in an interview on Wednesday, saying the rebels' defeat had pushed the West to wage 'psychological war' by threatening strikes.
'Consultations are ongoing between the allies and they will not let matters progress as Washington wants,' she told Lebanon's al-Mayadeen channel, referring to the alliance of Assad, Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah.
Russia celebrates as Assad takes control of rebel town where his chemical attack gassed 40 people to death
Syrian government forces have seized 'full control' of the city of Douma less than a week after the alleged chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians, Russian state news reports.
Russian military police unites were seen joining in celebrations on the streets of Douma, eastern Ghouta, as government soldiers raised the Syrian flag, in video footage published by Kremlin-funded news.
Rebel fighters in Douma surrendered after a series of ferocious assaults by President Bashar al-Assad's forces, aided by Russia under a massive bombardment.
Gathering: Hundreds of people took to the streets in Douma after the surrender of the rebels as Syrian government forces seized control
'A state flag hoisted on the Douma building heralded control over this settlement and, hence, over entire Eastern Ghouta,' Major-General Yuri Yevtushenko, head of the Russian Peace and Reconciliation Centre in Syria, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
The Jaish al-Islam group in Douma agreed on Sunday to withdraw, hours after a suspected chemical weapons attack on the town that has raised the prospect of U.S. strikes.
Human rights activists and aid workers in Syria reported that more than 40 people were killed when two bombs, allegedly chemical weapons, were dropped on Douma on Saturday afternoon.
Hospitals allegedly saw more than 500 patients admitted with symptoms of exposure to chemicals such as foaming at the mouth, asphyxiation and blue lips.
The Syrian government and Russia have called reports of the attack bogus.
Government control: Russian military police unites were seen joining Douma residents in celebrations on the streets
Local residents held up large Syrian flags and danced in the street on Monday
Got to go: A child from Douma cries as his family arrives in Aleppo last night
Russian military police were deployed in Douma on Thursday in accordance with the rebel surrender deal, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Some 40,000 people, including thousands of rebels and their families, are being forcibly evacuated from Douma and other opposition areas in northern Syria under the agreement.
On Wednesday, a top official from Iran, Assad's other main ally, toured eastern Ghouta and vowed to stand by Syria in the face of 'any foreign aggression'.
'Syria's enemies are angry because of its military advances against terrorist groups,' Ali Akbar Velayati, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's top adviser, told Iranian state TV during his visit to eastern Ghouta's bomb-shattered ruins.
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