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A UN vote on investigating a suspected sarin gas attack in Syria was last night put on hold by Britain, France and the US - so they can 'negotiate' with Russia first.

At least 72 people, including 20 children, died in Tuesday's attack on a rebel-held town in Idlib province. Dozens more were left gasping for air, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.

But the UK, France and America have held off calling a vote at the UN Security Council on a resolution demanding an investigation of the suspected attack to allow time for talks with Russia. 

The Kremlin has provided military backing to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whose forces have been blamed for the bombing. 

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft has accused Russia of 'defending the indefensible' by supporting the Syrian government while US President Donald Trump appeared to open the door to military action in Syria after branding the massacre an 'affront to humanity'.

A UN vote on investigating a suspected sarin gas attack in Syria has been put on hold by Britain, France and the US - so they can 'negotiate' with Russia first. Rescuers help a man after the toxic gas attack

PICTURE PERFECT: U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife First Lady Melania Trump welcome King Abdullah II Hussein of Jordan and his wife Queen Rania of Jordan at the West Wing of the White House. Trump and Abdullah both wore blue suits with red ties for the occasion - and their wives had on dresses, each sporting a black bel

Abdul-Hamid Alyousef, 29, holds his twin babies who were killed during a suspected chemical weapons attack, in Khan Sheikhoun town, in the northern province of Idlib. He said he wanted the world to see their faces

Meanwhile, in New York, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley urged the United Nations to take action. She held up pictures of poisoned children and asked,'How many more children have to die before Russia cares?'

The Kremlin has provided military backing to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad (pictured, today), whose forces have been blamed for the bombing

The talks on the proposed council measure opened after US Ambassador Nikki Haley warned of unilateral US action if the United Nations fails to respond to the attack.

'When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action,' she told an emergency council meeting on the attack on Khan Sheikhun. 

Shocking pictures have emerged showing some of the victims - including two twin children of a man who lost 19 family members in the deadly attack.

Yesterday, Trump said it is now his responsibility to resolve the humanitarian and political crisis in Syria as he opened the door to military action in the country. 

The 'horrible, horrible' sarin gas attack that killed small children and 'beautiful babies' had a 'big impact' on the president, who declared Wednesday that the attack 'crossed a lot of lines.'

In this photo taken on Tuesday, April 4, a Syrian man holds a suffering baby victim of alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syrian city of Idlib. Pictured right is President Bashar al-Assad

Syrians dig a grave to bury the bodies of victims of a a suspected toxic gas attack in Khan Sheikhun, a nearby rebel-held town in Syrias northwestern Idlib province

At least 72 people, including 20 children, died in Tuesday's attack on a rebel-held town in Idlib province

People gather to protest Assad regime forces' suspected chemical gas attack in the opposition-held Syrian province of Idlib, in Eastern Goutha district of Damascus

'When you kill innocent children, innocent babies...with a chemical gas that is so lethal...that crosses many, many lines. Beyond a red line,' Trump said, making reference to Barack Obama's infamous 2012 threat to Assad.

Britain said yesterday it had no plans for military retaliation against Syria for the deadly nerve gas attack that killed up to 100.

Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the suspected sarin attack and called for an end to the appalling suffering of civilians.

But asked if preparations were being made for military retaliation, a Downing Street official travelling with Mrs May in the Middle East said: 'Nobody is talking about that.'

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said President Bashar al Assad’s regime appeared to have carried out the attack, adding: 'I'd like to see those culpable pay a price.'

Speaking at an international aid conference for Syria, Mr Johnson said: 'I certainly do not see how a government like that can continue to have any kind of legitimate administration over the people of Syria.'

A UN vote on the draft text presented by Britain, France and the US could still be held today, diplomats said.

Russia rejected the draft resolution as 'categorically unacceptable,' suggesting it is ready to veto the measure if no compromise text is agreed.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters that 'the negotiations continue with our colleagues on the Security Council and I would not anticipate them coming to a conclusion today.'

He had earlier asked of Russia: 'What is your plan? What is your plan to stop these horrific senseless attacks? We had a plan and we had the support and you rejected it to protect Assad.' 

Mr Rycroft said Russia was 'defending the indefensible' by supporting the Syrian government in its actions. 

The draft resolution backs a probe by the Organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and demands that the Syrian government cooperate to provide information about its military operations on the day of the assault.

At least 72 people, including 20 children, died in Tuesday's attack on a rebel-held town in Idlib province.

Dozens more were left gasping for air, convulsing and foaming at the mouth, doctors said.

It is thought to be the worst chemical weapons attack in Syria since 2013, when sarin gas was used.

 At least 11 of the more than 70 people who died in the chemical attack were children. Two are seen receiving treatment on Tuesday at a hospital

Beyond a red line: Trump said that a 'many, many lines' had been crossed 'when you kill innocent children, innocent babies...with a chemical gas that is so lethal...'

Britain, France and the United States blame President Bashar al-Assad's forces for the attack, but the Syrian army has denied any involvement.

'We very much hope that it will be possible for everyone to come together,' Rycroft said. 'If not, we will press ahead.'

Russia turned up at the negotiations with a rival draft resolution that made no reference to specific demands that Damascus cooperate with an inquiry, diplomats said.

However, French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters that negotiations were being held 'in a good spirit' and that 'there is a chance' for agreement.

'It's time for action - no doubt about it,' he added.

But other diplomats sounded more pessimistic, saying a Russian veto appeared likely. 'It's not going well,' a council diplomat said.

Assad's enormous political gamble: Syrian troops already have the upper hand in the civil war - so why launch a chemical attack? 

President Bashar Assad took an enormous gamble if his forces were behind the chemical weapons attack that killed dozens in northern Syria: committing an overt war crime just as the Trump administration and most Western leaders had made clear they are no longer seeking his immediate removal.

Although Assad can count on the backing of his top allies, Russia and Iran, the attack has revived international outrage at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is still formulating his policy on Syria.

So why do it? Especially when Syrian government troops have the upper hand in the 6-year-old civil war?

Members of the Syrian civil defense volunteers, also known as the White Helmets, and people search for survivors from the rubble following reported air-strikes on the rebel-held town of Saqba, in Eastern Ghouta, on April 4

There is a military rationale, as well as a political one, analysts say.

Politically, Assad may have been emboldened to act to crush his opponents, thinking he could do so with impunity after recent statements from Washington, along with Trump's inclination to align with Russia.

On a visit to Turkey last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Assad's future was up to the Syrian people to decide, while Nikki Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said the United States isn't ruling out cooperation with Assad to defeat the Islamic State group.

Militarily, Tuesday's attack took place in an area of Idlib province where rebels recently launched a heavy offensive against government troops. The assault brought insurgents to within miles of the key, government-held city of Hama. 

Khan Sheikhoun, the town targeted by Tuesday's attack, is right up the road from Hama, and although Syrian forces have since launched a counter-offensive and regained some ground, there is a clear government incentive to rid the area of insurgents.

President Bashar Assad took an enormous gamble if his forces were behind the chemical weapons attack that killed dozens in northern Syria

'These weapons are frightening and disorienting to the targeted populations, and they also highlight to the local population and the rebels that there is no international limitation on regime behaviour and that resistance is therefore futile,' said Faysal Itani, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.

Still, a chemical weapons attack of this magnitude carries significant risk.

The images of lifeless children and others gasping for breath were reminiscent of the 2013 attack near Damascus that killed hundreds of civilians, and triggered a blitz of denunciations by world leaders and organisations, who urged the U.S. to commit to a Syria solution.

Trump's condemnation of Tuesday's attack has been surprisingly strong, even if he did not give any clear indication about how the U.S. might respond.

On Wednesday, Trump denounced the attack as an 'affront to humanity' and blamed Assad, saying it 'cannot be tolerated.' At the U.N., Haley threatened unilateral U.S. action if the world body failed to act.

Although Trump has not drawn a public 'red line' concerning chemical weapons as his predecessor did - and he spoke out against military action against Assad before his presidency - such an atrocity may prove embarrassing enough for him to change course, or take stronger action to prove he's tougher than Barack Obama, whose 'weakness' after the 2013 chemical attack Trump also blamed for Tuesday's assault.

The attack has caused sparring between the U.S. and Russia over who was responsible.

The Syrian government has strongly denied involvement, accusing the opposition of trying to frame it to make up for military losses on the ground. The Russian Defence Ministry said a Syrian government airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons factory, causing the disaster.

Part of the equation, for any perpetrator, is the difficulty of proving anything in the aftermath of such attacks, largely due to the lack of immediate access. 

And, in the complex terrain of opposition-held northern Syria, which is closed off to investigators and journalists, various scenarios cannot be completely discounted.

A Syrian lawmaker, Omar Osse, suggested Wednesday that the attack on Khan Sheikhoun was 'fabricated' to abort the recent change in U.S. policies toward Syria.

Assad may be betting on further deniability by striking in an area where extremists hold sway, further casting a cloud of confusion on the attack. 

Idlib province, which is packed with rebels and civilians alike, is dominated by the al-Qaeda group.

Some analysts suggested Assad may be signalling he wants quicker action to end the war on his own terms.

'Rather than making concessions or political gestures, the regime is further raising the stakes and the political cost for the West of not cooperating,' said Jihad Yazigi, editor-in-chief of The Syria Report.

Assad, he wrote in an op-ed Wednesday, knows he is unlikely to pay a major price for Tuesday's attack.

'Since former U.S. President Barack Obama's `green light' in September 2013, Assad knows that a large-scale attack against its civilians is a short-term public relations liability but a long-term political asset,' he said. 

DOCTOR TELLS OF HORRORS AFTER TOXIN ATTACK 

A medical doctor going by the name of Dr. Shajul Islam on Twitter said his hospital in Idlib province received three victims, all with narrow, pinpoint pupils that did not respond to light. 

He published video of the patients on his Twitter account.

Pinpoint pupils, breathing difficulties, and foaming at the mouth are symptoms commonly associated with toxic gas exposure.

'Our hospital getting full from sarin attack today,' he wrote of his hospital in Hama, which is a short drive away from Khan Sheikhoun. 'Anyone that wants evidence, I will video call you.' 

Dr Islam, who trained in the UK and now works in northern Syria, said that seriously ill patients were still 'flooding' into his hospital.

A medical doctor going by the name of Dr. Shajul Islam on Twitter said his hospital in Idlib province received three victims, all with narrow, pinpoint pupils that did not respond to light

Dr Islam said that his hospital in Hama, which is a short drive away from Khan Sheikhoun, received several victims of a suspected sarin attack

'The patients keep just flooding in from this chemical attack,' he says in a Twitter video , purportedly taken inside a Syrian hospital this morning. 'Every one - every one - has got pinpoint pupils'.

'The patients keep coming, we've run out of ventilators,' the humanitarian aid added. 

'We don't have enough ventilator space, so we're now taking out the transport ventilators we have in our ambulances and we're going to try to modify them to see if we can use them for our patients.' 

Dr Islam said that it was 'definitely not a chlorine attack', suggesting that the more severe sarin was used.  

Footage from his hospital shows adults and children lying on hospital beds unresponsive, as medics work to save their lives.  

'I will show you the evidence again and again, but you know what? The world doesn't care and no-one is doing anything,' says Dr Islam. 'We urge you to put pressure on your government - put pressure on anyone - to help us.' 

Dr Islam said that it was 'definitely not a chlorine attack', suggesting that the more severe sarin was used. Footage from his hospital shows adults and children lying on hospital beds unresponsive, as medics work to save their lives.

Doctors at the facility were using basic equipment, and attempting to revive patients who were not breathing following the attack

An AFP journalist in Khan Sheikhun saw a young girl, a woman and two elderly people dead at a hospital, with foam still visible around their mouths.

Doctors at the facility were using basic equipment, some not even wearing lab coats, and attempting to revive patients who were not breathing.

A father carried his dead little girl, her lips blueish and her dark curls visible, wrapped in a blue sheet.

As doctors worked, a warplane circled overhead, striking first near the facility and then hitting it twice, bringing rubble down on medics and patients. 

In a video posted online by Idlib's local medical directorate, a doctor described patient symptoms as he treated a child.

'We are seeing unconsciousness, convulsions, pinpoint pupils, severe foaming, and lack of oxygen,' he said.

Dr Islam, who trained in the UK and now works in northern Syria, said that seriously ill patients were still 'flooding' into his hospital