British foreign secretary Boris Johnson's call for targeted sanctions against senior Russian and Syrian figures has been rejected by fellow G7 foreign ministers.
At a meeting at Lucca in Italy, the group said there must be an investigation into last week's chemical weapons incident in a rebel-held town before new measures could be adopted, according to a UK government source.
The source insisted the option of sanctions remained on the table, but the outcome will come as a disappointment to the British government, which had hoped to strengthen the hand of US secretary of state Rex Tillerson as he prepared to confront the Russians over their support for Syria.
PA