"France is still seeking to talk with its partners on the Security Council, especially the permanent members, and Russia in particular," Jean-Marc Ayrault told CNews television, Reuters reported.
Asked whether France could join any possible US military action on Syria, following widespread condemnation of an alleged Syrian government poison gas attack on civilians this week, Ayrault replied that France's priority remained seeking a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
"The first stage is to get a resolution vote and above all to re-start peace negotiations in Geneva. It is not to go in ourselves, under the pretext that the US President may have a rush of blood to the head, and get onto a war footing," said Ayrault.
Dozens of people were killed in a chemical attack in the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday.
The United States and its allies were quick to accuse Syrian government forces of carrying out the attack. The Syrian army said, however, that “it has never used them (chemical weapons), anytime, anywhere, and will not do so in the future.”
Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, said reliable evidence would be needed to confirm the alleged use of chemical weapons, let alone establish who was responsible for it.
“We have no yet any official or reliable confirmation,” he said on Wednesday. “We will be stimulating all those who have the capacity of finding out technically what had happened.”
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also said there was no evidence yet to draw any conclusion on what had happened in the Idlib governorate, but claimed that the Syrian government held “primary responsibility” for the situation.
Experts point out that the Syrian Army had no rational reason for using chemical weapons against terrorists in Idlib.
The incident in Khan Shaykhun happened days after Washington stated that ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad was no longer a priority for the US. The “Assad must go” premise was one of the cornerstones of Washington’s Syrian policy under Barack Obama. The Trump administration has been dismantling many of Obama’s policies.