As European governments are looking at possible responses to the killing of hundreds of Syrian civilians in an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian government, Russia is warning the western states that any action without United Nations approval would be a "gross violation of International law."

The comments made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov came shortly after an announcement by Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague said that an International response would be possible without approval from the United Nations Security Council of which Russia is a member.

France has also said that it is willing to take part in an International response without the backing of the United Nations Security Council. Turkey, also a strong supporter of the rebels in Syria added their name to the growing list of nations willing to take action in Syria without the approval of the U.N. Security Council.

President Obama convened a meeting of his National Security Council on Saturday to discuss the reported use of chemical weapons in Syria. At that meeting, the president received a range of potential response options to the situation coming to a head in Syria.

On Sunday, a senior official in the Obama administration said there is little doubt that Syria used chemical weapons last week during their assault on the capital city of Damascus. The un-named official released a written statement where he said, “based on the reported number of victims, reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured, witness accounts and other facts gathered by open sources, the U.S. intelligence community, and international partners, there is very little doubt at this point that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians in this incident.”

Secretary of State John Kerry, in a forceful statement delivered Monday, called the attcks “undeniable ” and a “moral obscenity,” and pointed out that the U.S. and its allies are actively consulting on how to proceed.

The Syrian government blamed Wednesday’s attack that killed over 3050 people on the Syrian rebels and warned the United States against intervening in Syria militarily. Syrian president Bashar Assad told Russian newspaper Izvestia, “Failure awaits the United States as in all previous wars it has unleashed, starting with Vietnam and up to the present day.”

Also on Monday, a convoy of 20 United Nations Weapons inspectors left the hotel in Damascus where they were staying to travel to the location of the alleged chemical weapons attacks.During their trip to the attack site, they came under fire from snipers that disabled the lead vehicle in the convoy with shots to the windshield and tires. None of the inspectors were injured in that attack and they later made it to the site at Moadhamiya where they were able to take samples from patients involved in Wednesday’s incident.

Four destroyers have now taken up positions in the eastern Meditrranean off the shores of Syria in anticipation of an attack order from President Obama. Those vessels are armed with ballistic missiles and Tomahawk Cruise missiles. They may be used to target suspected chemical weapons sites if given the order.