Only a political solution would bring peace to Syria, Chancellor Merkel said. She had spoken with US President Donald Trump by telephone on Monday evening to discuss the situation in Syria. Merkel described the US missile strike against a Syrian airbase as "understandable". Now it was important, she said, to work with Russia in launching a political transition process for the country ravaged by civil war. The aim was a peaceful and stable Syria in which Assad had no future as the country's leader.

Special G7 meeting on Syria

Progress has to be made on the political process in Syria, Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had said at the start of the G7 meeting in Lucca, Italy. "None of the G7 states wants military escalation but a political solution which does not feed the spiral of violence. We want to reach out to Russia to support the political process so that a peaceful solution can be found to the Syria conflict," Germany's Foreign Minister said.

After their meeting the G7 foreign ministers said they were united in that there could be no solution to the Syria conflict which envisaged President Bashar al-Assad remaining in power.

The foreign ministers of the world's seven leading industrialised nations had called a special meeting to discuss the current situation in Syria. On Tuesday morning they were then joined by chief diplomats from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar.

Reviving the stalled peace talks

Sigmar Gabriel stressed how pleased he was about "the United States' very clear stance". He said: "Their military strike sent a clear signal to the Assad regime. They do not want to escalate the situation, though, but to reach out to Russia."

The Vienna process needed to get back on track as quickly as possible, Gabriel added. "I cannot believe that Moscow will continue to back such a cruel regime as the Assad regime now that it is clear that they will literally stop at nothing," the Foreign Minister said.

Peace talks of the International Syria Support Group have been taking place in Vienna since late 2015.

There can be no military solution to the conflict, says Steffen Seibert

Only a political solution will bring peace to Syria said Steffen Seibert at the government press conference on Monday. "No military solution will bring permanent peace to this tormented country," he said. "The first person who will need to heed that advice, however, is President Assad, who has been using such cruel means to attack his own people for the past six years."

The German government believe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bears primary responsibility for the civil war in Syria. It is under his leadership that chemical weapons as well as barrel and cluster bombs have been used against the civilian population and medical facilities treating them have been targeted. The six-year conflict has claimed the lives of more than 300,000 people. More than five million Syrians have fled the country.

Fight against IS terrorists still a top priorty

Syria's close allay Russia had a key role to play in this conflict, Seifert went on. It was clear, he said, that there could be no political solution to the conflict without or against Russia. The German government wanted "to do all in its power" to strengthen the UN process and efforts of the UN's Syria Envoy, Staffan de Mistura, to bring about talks. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had addressed this issue when he spoke to his Russian counterpart at the weekend, Seibert said.

"The fight against the murderous terrorist organisation calling itself Islamic State continues to be our top priority," the government spokesman said. Recent events in St Petersburg, Stockholm and Egypt showed "what inhuman acts these terrorists were capable of," said Seibert. As many partners as possible should therefore join the fight against so-called Islamic State.

The situation in Syria has been a key topic at the meeting of G7 foreign ministers on 10 and 11 April in Lucca, Italy.