DAMASCUS: The Syrian government has agreed to Russian proposal asking Damascus to hand over its chemical arsenal to international control in a bid to avert the US military strikes.
“Yesterday [Monday] we held a round of very fruitful negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and he put forward an initiative regarding chemical weapons. Already in the evening we accepted Russia’s initiative,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Tuesday.
The Russian proposal came during a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister and his Syrian counterpart in Moscow on Monday and it aimed at averting the US military strikes in Syria in response to the suspected use of the chemical weapons against civilians during the current unrest.
In response to Russia’s proposal, US President Barack Obama said he “would consider this a modestly positive development” and he was willing to “absolutely” put on pause a military strike on Syria if Bashar Assad accepts the offer.
“Let’s see if we can come up with language that avoids a strike, but accomplishes our key goals to make sure that these chemical weapons are not used,” Obama said.
Meanwhile, China on Tuesday announced support to the Russian proposal asking Syria to hand over its chemical weapons for destruction.
Talking to newsmen in Beijing on Tuesday‚ Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the proposal is beneficial for maintaining peace and stability in Syria and the region.
Iran also welcomed Russia’s proposal to Syria to put its chemical stockpile under international control in order to avoid militarism in the region.
“Iran considers the [proposition] of this initiative within the framework of stopping militarism in the region,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said during the ministry’s weekly press conference on Tuesday.
