Syria crisis: Russia urges Assad to give up chemical weapons

Russia has asked Syria to put its chemical
weapons stockpiles under international
control and then have them destroyed, in
an attempt to avoid US military strikes.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the offer
was made during talks with his Syrian
counterpart, Walid Muallem.
Mr Muallem said he welcomed the initiative.
The US is threatening strikes accusing the
Syrian regime of war crimes, though Damascus
denies the claims.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Europe to
garner support for the military action, has
once again warned that taking no action is
riskier than launching strikes.
When asked at a news conference whether
there was anything Syrian President Bashar al-
Assad could do to avoid military action, Mr
Kerry replied that he could hand over his
entire stockpile of chemical weapons within
the next week.
US officials subsequently clarified that Mr
Kerry was making a "rhetorical argument"
rather than a serious offer.
However, Mr Lavrov later said he had urged
Mr Muallem during talks in Moscow to "not
only agree on placing chemical weapons
storage sites under international control, but
also on their subsequent destruction".
He said he had also told Mr Muallem that Syria
should then fully join the Chemical Weapons
Convention.
Mr Muallem told reporters through an
interpreter that Syria welcomed the Russian
initiative.
He praised Russia for "attempting to prevent
American aggression against our people".
UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the
destruction of the weapons would be a "huge
step forward", but warned that it should not
be used as a "distraction tactic".

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