The US Secretary of State says the world faces a 'Munich moment' - and mustn't decide to 'appease' Bashar al-Assad over chemical weapons.

John Kerry was speaking at a press conference with the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Paris.

It follows a joint statement from EU Foreign Ministers which called for a 'clear and strong response' to last month's chemical weapons attack, which is being blamed on the Assad regime.

John Kerry says the US and France are bound by duty to take action.