Damascus must be 'held accountable' for East Ghouta attacks: Angela Merkel, Donald Trump

United States President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone call agreed that the Syrian regime must be held accountable for the Eastern Ghouta violence, Berlin said on Friday.

Both also "urge Russia to end its involvement in the bombing of Eastern Ghouta and to persuade the Assad regime to stop its offensive operations against civilian areas", a chancellery statement said.

President Bashar al-Assad's regime "must be held accountable" for the attacks on Eastern Ghouta and the humanitarian crisis in the rebel-held enclave, they agreed in the conversation yesterday.

"This applies both to the Assad regime's deployment of chemical weapons and for its attacks against civilians and the blockade of humanitarian support." "Both agreed that the Syrian regime and its Russian and Iranian allies are urged to promptly and fully implement" a UN Security Council resolution that calls "for a prompt ceasefire in Syria", said the statement.