Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How the Western attacks on Syria's suspected chemical weapons sites unfolded 
 
 French President Emmanuel Macron has said he convinced US President Donald Trump not to withdraw troops from Syria and instead commit "for the long term". 
 
 Earlier this month, Mr Trump declared that the US would "be coming out of Syria very soon". 
 
 On Saturday, joint US, UK and French strikes targeted Syrian government sites in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack. 
 
 Mr Macron said he also persuaded Mr Trump to keep the strikes limited. 
 
 The pair, who are reported to have a friendly relationship, spoke several times in the days before the military action was taken. 
 
 Inspectors from the independent Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are in Syria to inspect the site of the alleged chemical attack, but British diplomats said Syria and Russia had not yet allowed the inspectors to visit the site. 
 
 After Mr Macron's comments, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said: "The US mission has not changed - the president has been clear that he wants US forces to come home as quickly as possible". 
 
 But she added that the US was "determined to completely crush" the Islamic State group and prevent its return. 
 
 Announcing the strikes in an address to the nation on Friday evening in Washington, Mr Trump insisted: "America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria - under no circumstances." 
 
 The US has about 2,000 personnel on the ground in eastern Syria supporting an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). 
 
 Catch up on the strikes: 
 
 What did Mr Macron say? 
 
 Speaking in a live TV interview, during which he was grilled on several subjects, Mr Macron said: "Ten days ago, President Trump was saying 'the United States should withdraw from Syria'. We convinced him it was necessary to stay for the long term." 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Emmanuel Macron defended the strikes in a lengthy TV interview 
 
 In telephone calls with Mr Trump, he also said he "persuaded him that we needed to limit the strikes to chemical weapons [sites], after things got a little carried away over tweets". 
 
 A tweet from Mr Trump last week about US missile strikes on Syria had read: "Get ready, Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart'. You shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!" 
 
 The French president appears to have struck up a strong relationship with his US counterpart and this month will be afforded the first formal White House state visit of the Trump presidency. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Emmanuel Macron has developed a strong relationship with Donald Trump 
 
 Mr Macron insisted the Western allies had "complete international legitimacy to act" in Syria. He said the allies had clear proof there had been a chemical attack in the town of Douma near Damascus on 7 April and that the Syrian government was responsible. Syria vehemently denies this. 
 
 Mr Macron said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin directly that Russia - which backs the Syrian government militarily - was complicit. 
 
 "They have not used chlorine themselves but they have methodically built the international community's inability to act through diplomatic channels to stop the use of chemical weapons," he said. 
 
 Macron thrives under tough questioning 
 
 By Hugh Schofield, Paris correspondent for BBC News 
 
 No-one in France can remember watching a presidential interview quite like this. Out went deference, journalistic fawning and the patsy questions. In came two attack hounds of the press, Jean-Jacques Bourdin and Edwy Plenel - both men bent, it seemed, on a proper slug-out with the head of state. 
 
 A sign of the style: not once did the journalists call Emmanuel Macron "Monsieur le President," which would be the norm on such occasions. Every time they wanted to address him, they said simply: "Emmanuel Macron." 
 
 The irony is that far from inconveniencing Mr Macron, this new aggression suits him down to the ground. In the heat of debate, he performs well. He knows his stuff. 
 
 And on Syria, he made the strongest case yet for his policy - much-criticised - of sticking close to Donald Trump. If it was indeed Emmanuel Macron who talked Trump into "re-engaging" with Syria after the suspected chemical attack, then that is an enormous success for France. 
 
 And the first dividend from a most unlikely presidential friendship. 
 
 The wave of strikes had represented the most significant attack against President Bashar al-Assad's government by Western powers in seven years of Syria's civil war. 
 
 Mr Macron said he still wanted dialogue with all parties, including Russia, to try to find a political solution and would go ahead with a planned trip to Moscow next month. 
 
 The French parliament will be holding an urgent debate on the country's military action at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT). 
 
 MPs in the UK parliament are also due to question PM Theresa May on the air strikes. The opposition believes Mrs May should have consulted parliament before launching them. 
 
 What's happening on the ground in Syria? 
 
 Inspectors from the independent OPCW are now in the country. 
 
 But according to British diplomats at an urgent meeting in the OPCW headquarters in The Hague, the organisation's director says his experts are still waiting for Syria and Russia to grant them access to the alleged attack site in Douma. 
 
 At the meeting, UK ambassador to the Netherlands Peter Wilson accused Russia of trying to undermine all OPCW investigations into alleged chemical weapons use by Syrian government troops. 
 
 Russia in turn blamed other parties of trying to block their efforts to make a create a new way of investigating such chemical weapons claims. 
 
 Western allies believe the claimed attack killed dozens of people with the use of chlorine gas and possibly Sarin. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Masa, survivor of suspected chemical attack: "Instead of breathing air, we breathed the smell of blood" 
 
 The Russians say there is no trace of any chemicals and questioned why the allies carried out strikes before the inspectors had reported. 
 
 Russia says the attack in Douma was staged, accusing the UK of orchestrating it. 
 
 The OPCW will not seek to establish, or publicly announce, who was responsible for the attack. 
 
 What are the latest diplomatic moves? 
 
 Speaking on TV, US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley said new sanctions would be announced on Monday against Russian companies with links to President Assad. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Syria air strikes: Will they work? 
 
 This would be the second tranche of sanctions against Russian firms in a month, partly related to Russia's support for Syria. 
 
 Ms Haley also ruled out any direct talks with Mr Assad. 
 
 British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said no further strikes were planned, but that this would be reassessed if more chemical attacks took place. 
 
 President Putin spoke to Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani by phone on Sunday, telling him that any new Western strikes on Syria would spark "international chaos". 
 
 Syria is also high on the agenda of an EU foreign ministers' meeting taking place in Luxembourg. 
 
 The future of the Syrian war: 
 
 What was targeted by the US, UK and France? 
 
 Three sites. Firstly, the Barzeh complex, which the US says is a centre for development, production and testing of chemical and biological weapons, although Syria denies this. 
 
 The other two were suspected chemical weapons facilities at Him Shinshar near Homs. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The Barzeh complex appears completely destroyed 
 
 The US said 105 missiles were launched and it believed none were intercepted by Syrian defences. It said Syria's chemical weapons programme had been set back years. 
 
 The Russians said 71 missiles were shot down by Syrian systems. ||||| Macron: I never said US and France would stay in Syria for long term 
 
 Emmanuel Macron has clarified a suggestion that he was responsible for shifting the US position on Syria, after the White House rebutted an earlier comment by the French president that he had “convinced” Donald Trump to maintain a military presence there. 
 
 After Macron said in a live TV interview on Sunday night that he had changed Trump’s mind on rapidly withdrawing US troops, the White House issued a statement saying the US view had not changed and Trump still wanted US forces to leave “as quickly as possible” and “completely crush Isis”. 
 
 Macron said on Monday he had “never said” that either the US or France would stay engaged militarily over the long term. He said the French and US positions were in line but also had the same long-term target of building a stable and peaceful Syria. 
 
 “We have one military objective and only one: the war against Isis,” he told a press conference. “The White House is right to recall that the military engagement is against [Isis] and will finish the day that the war against [Isis] has been completed. I suggested no change last night.” 
 
 However, Macron said that by joining forces with France and the UK for Saturday’s strikes, the US “fully realised that our responsibility goes beyond the war against Isis and that there is also a humanitarian responsibility and a responsibility to build peace over the long term”. 
 
 Play Video 2:05 What you need to know about the Syria strikes – video report 
 
 France and other European nations had been alarmed by Trump’s comments about ending America’s presence in Syria, which contradicted messages from US military leaders. Despite a string of military victories that have driven the group back, Isis militants are still in control of pockets of land in Syria. 
 
 This weekend’s strikes on Syria – in which the US, France and Britain launched 105 missiles targeting three chemical weapons facilities in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack in Douma on 7 April – marked a new phase in Macron’s presidency. 
 
 It was the first time that France’s youngest modern president, who has been in power for a year, has used his constitutional role as commander-in-chief to order a military strike. 
 
 Syrian strikes boost French president’s action man image Read more 
 
 As Theresa May made a statement in the House of Commons about the strikes following criticism from opposition MPs that they were carried out without parliamentary approval, Macron also defended his decision to commit French forces to the attack. 
 
 Jean-Luc Melenchon of the hard-left La France Insoumise condemned the strikes, as did the centre-right Les Républicains, whose leader, Laurent Wauquiez, said he “did not believe in punitive strikes”. The leader of the far-right Front National, Marine Le Pen, said Macron had not published any evidence of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime. 
 
 At his Monday press conference, Macron said France had acted with “international legitimacy”, adding that despite not being sanctioned by the UN the operation was legitimate because Syria should have destroyed its chemical weapons arsenal under a 2013 UN resolution. 
 
 Syrian strikes boost French president’s action man image Read more 
 
 In his Sunday night interview, Macron said his mandate to order a military strike “is given democratically to the president by the people in the presidential election”. 
 
 Macron reaffirmed that there was proof of chemical attacks, adding: “We had reached a point where these strikes were necessary to give back the [international] community some credibility.” 
 
 
 
 He said failing to enforce red lines had led Russian authorities to think “these people from the international community – they are nice, they are weak”. “He [Russian president Vladimir Putin] has understood it’s not the case any more.” 
 
 
 
 ||||| In this image released by the Department of Defense, a U.S. Air Force B-1 Bomber separates from the boom pod after receiving fuel from an Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker on April 13, 2018, en route to strike... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley has indicated new economic sanctions will be announced Monday against Russia for enabling the government of Syrian leader Bashar Assad to continue using chemical weapons. 
 
 The ambassador to the U.N. said Russia has blocked six attempts by the U.N. Security Council to make it easier to investigate the use of chemical weapons. 
 
 "Everyone is going to feel it at this point," Haley said, warning of consequences for Assad's foreign allies. 
 
 "The international community will not allow chemical weapons to come back into our everyday life," she said in an interview aired Sunday. "The fact he was making this more normal and that Russia was covering this up, all that has got to stop." 
 
 President Donald Trump on Sunday said a U.S.-led missile attack on Syria's chemical weapons program was "perfectly carried out." 
 
 Trump tweeted "Mission Accomplished" on Saturday after U.S., French and British warplanes and ships launched more than 100 missiles nearly unopposed by Syrian air defenses. While he declared success, the Pentagon said the pummeling of three chemical-related facilities left enough others intact to enable the Assad government to use banned weapons against civilians if it chooses. 
 
 His choice of words recalled a similar claim associated with President George W. Bush following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Bush addressed sailors aboard a Navy ship in May 2003 alongside a "Mission Accomplished" banner, just weeks before it became apparent that Iraqis had organized an insurgency that would tie down U.S. forces for years. 
 
 Later Sunday, Trump sent a letter to congressional leaders informing them in writing of his decision to order the strike. Under the War Powers Resolution, the president must keep Congress informed of such actions. 
 
 Haley made clear the United States won't be pulling troops out of Syria right away, saying U.S. involvement there "is not done." 
 
 Haley said the three U.S. goals for accomplishing its mission are making sure chemical weapons are not used in a way that could harm U.S. national interests, defeating the Islamic State group and having a good vantage point to watch what Iran is doing. 
 
 "We're not going to leave until we know we've accomplished those things," she said. 
 
 Haley said the joint military strike "put a heavy blow into their chemical weapons program, setting them back years" and reiterated that if Assad uses poison gas again, "the United States is locked and loaded." 
 
 French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that France wants to launch a diplomatic initiative over Syria that would include Western powers, Russia and Turkey. Speaking on French television BFM and online site Mediapart, Macron stressed that the French diplomacy is able to talk with Iran, Russia and Turkey on one side and to the United States on the other side. 
 
 He said, "Ten days ago, President Trump wanted to withdraw from Syria. We convinced him to remain." 
 
 Asked about Macron's comments, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders stressed that Trump's plans for the region have not changed. In a statement, she said: "The U.S. mission has not changed -- the President has been clear that he wants U.S. forces to come home as quickly as possible." 
 
 The nighttime assault on Syria was carefully limited to minimize civilian casualties and avoid direct conflict with Russia, but confusion arose over the extent to which Washington warned Moscow in advance. The Pentagon said it gave no explicit warning. The U.S. ambassador in Moscow, John Huntsman, said in a video, "Before we took action, the United States communicated with" Russia to "reduce the danger of any Russian or civilian casualties." 
 
 Russia has military forces, including air defenses, in several areas of Syria to support Assad in his long war against anti-government rebels. 
 
 Assad denies he has used chemical weapons, and the Trump administration has yet to present hard evidence of what it says precipitated the allied missiles attack: a chlorine gas attack on civilians in Douma on April 7. The U.S. says it suspects that sarin gas also was used. 
 
 The strikes "successfully hit every target," said Dana W. White, the chief Pentagon spokeswoman. The military said there were three targets: the Barzah chemical weapons research and development site in the Damascus area, a chemical weapons storage facility near Homs and a chemical weapons "bunker" a few miles from the second target. 
 
 Although officials said the singular target was Assad's chemical weapons capability, his air force, including helicopters he allegedly has used to drop chemical weapons on civilians, were spared. In a U.S. military action a year ago in response to a sarin gas attack, missiles took out nearly 20 percent of the Syrian air force, the Pentagon said. 
 
 In his televised address from the White House on Friday, Trump said the U.S. was prepared to keep up the economic, diplomatic and military pressure on Assad until he ends a pattern of killing his own people with internationally banned chemical weapons. 
 
 That did not mean military strikes would continue. In fact, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said no additional attacks were planned. 
 
 Asked about Trump's "Mission Accomplished" assertion, White said it pointed to the successful targeting of the three Syrian chemical weapons sites. What happens next, she said, is up to Assad and to his Russian and Iranian allies. 
 
 Haley appeared on "Fox News Sunday" and CBS' "Face the Nation."
– President Trump is taking guidance on Syria policy from the president of France, Emmanuel Macron claimed in an interview Sunday. The French leader said he persuaded Trump to limit airstrikes on Syria on Friday to chemical weapons facilities after "things got a little carried away over tweets," the Guardian reports. France and Britain also took part in the airstrikes. Macron also told an interviewer that over several phone calls in the days before the strikes, he talked Trump into keeping American troops in Syria just 10 days after the president said he wanted to bring them home. "We convinced him it was necessary to stay," said Macron. "We convinced him it was necessary to stay for the long term." Macron is believed to have a strong relationship with Trump and will be the guest of honor at the first formal White House state visit of Trump's presidency later this month, the BBC reports. But after his comments, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied that there had been a change in American policy. "The US mission has not changed—the president has been clear that he wants US forces to come home as quickly as possible," she said. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Sunday that American troops are in Syria to crush ISIS, make sure Iran doesn't take over, and to prevent chemical weapons from being used in a way that harms US interests, and they will stay until those missions are accomplished, the AP reports. (She also announced new sanctions on Russia.)