{{World leaders meeting for the final day of the G20 summit in Russia remain divided over military action in Syria.}}
Italian PM Enrico Letta said the splits in opinion were confirmed at Thursday’s working dinner in St Petersburg.
A spokesman for the Russian presidency said a US military strike on Syria would “drive another nail into the coffin of international law”.
At the UN, the US ambassador accused Russia of holding the Security Council hostage by blocking resolutions.
Samantha Power said the Security Council was no longer a “viable path” for holding Syria accountable for war crimes.
The US government accuses President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of killing 1,429 people in a poison-gas attack in the Damascus suburbs on 21 August.
The UK says scientists at the Porton Down research laboratories have found traces of sarin gas on cloth and soil samples.
But Mr Assad has blamed rebels for the attack. China and Russia, which have refused to agree to a Security Council resolution against Syria, insist any action without the UN would be illegal.
The US and France are the only nations at the G20 summit to commit to using force in Syria.
The United Nations says it needs another $3.3bn (£2bn) to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis up to the end of this year.
BBC
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