10 G20 Nations Join US In Blaming Assad; Obama To Address Nation Tuesday

 Ten members of the Group of 20 international economies joined the United States in accusing the Syrian government of carrying a chemical weapons attack on civilians last month and called for a strong international response against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

A joint statement by the ten countries and the United States stopped short of explicitly calling for military action against the Syrian government, as President Obama is advocating.

But the tough language aligned half of the G-20 members with Obama, who worked the sidelines of the summit to build international support for a limited U.S. military response. Obama is seeking congressional authority to launch a strike.

The countries are Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Russia to keep helping Syria if it's attacked

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin says Russia will continue helping Syria even if it comes under attack.

Putin, speaking at Friday's briefing after the Group of 20 summit, answered with a firm "we will" when asked if Russia will keep providing assistance to Syria if it's attacked.

He added that Russia has been supplying weapons to Syria and maintaining economic cooperation.

Putin said that Russia intends to increase its humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people after more than two years of hostilities.

Putin and his officials have previously said that Moscow has no intention of engaging in the conflict.

However, Russia has increased its naval presence in the Mediterranean, which the Kremlin's chief of staff said could help Russia evacuate its citizens from Syria if necessary.