Britain and France are pushing the European Union to lift an arms embargo to allow them to funnel weapons to Syria's opposition, with President Francois Hollande warning that the threat of chemical weapons meant the moment had come to scale up involvement in the civil war, The Independent reports.

“We can and must go further,” President Hollande said. “Bashar al-Assad clearly wants to use any military means to strike his own people... All of the initiatives to open up the political discussion have been doomed to fail because of Bashar al-Assad. We have to go further because there are some threats as to the potential use of chemical weapons. Therefore we must take our responsibilities.”

Hollande said he and Cameron will press other EU members to lift the arms embargo before it comes up for discussion again in May, but they will likely face opposition from nations including Germany, which fear intervention will fuel the civil war and further destabilize the region.

Hollande was speaking on the sidelines of a European Union summit, where leaders were debating whether tough austerity measures are helping to drag Europe back to prosperity, or condemning millions to unemployment and hardship.