Syrian President Bashar al-Assad alone bears responsibility for the U.S. strike on Syrian regime airbase, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said in a joint statement on Friday.

During a phone conversation, they noted that U.S. action was an appropriate response “to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime and is intended to deter further attacks.”

The statement says, France and Germany, together with their partners and within the framework of the United Nations, will continue their efforts “to hold President Assad responsible for his criminal deeds.”

Russia emphasized absence of evidences of the involvement of the Syrian army in the alleged chemical attack in Idlib. Damascus, in turn, declared that the Syrian army didn't use, and would not use any chemical weapon, even against terrorists attacking Syrians.