EU foreign ministers formally endorse US-led airstrikes on Syria

BRUSSELS - Foreign ministers of the 28-member European Union (EU) on Monday formally endorsed the bloc's backing to the US-led airstrikes on Syria launched Saturday.

Following their monthly meeting in Luxemburg, the foreign ministers adopted conclusions on Syria, which claimed that the airstrikes were carried out "with the sole objective" to prevent further use of chemical weapons.

"The Council is supportive of all efforts aimed at the prevention of the use of chemical weapons. This is the position expressed on behalf of the EU at the OPCW," read the conclusions.

The conclusions were consistent with the statement issued on Saturday by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who also called for a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

"The European Union will spare no efforts in support of a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict. A lasting peace in Syria is the ultimate objective of the EU," read the conclusions.

The EU and the UN are set to co-chair an international conference on Syria on April 24-25 in Brussels, aiming to mobilize humanitarian aid to Syrians and garner political support for the UN-led peace process.

The United States, in cooperation with Britain and France, on Saturday attacked Syrian military facilities allegedly related to Syria's chemical weapons capabilities.

The move was to retaliate for the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syrian troops on April 7 in an attack on the rebel-held town of Douma near the Syrian capital Damascus.

The Syrian government has strongly denied the allegation, calling for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to send a fact-finding mission for investigations. However, the three nations carried out the strike on the day the mission just arrived in Damascus.