Photograph courtesy of Syria Revolution in Photos
Russia has urged the Syrian regime to give up their stockpiles of chemical weapons to “international control” in an attempt to avoid US military action.
US Secretary of State John Kerry told a reporter at a London press conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague this morning that the only thing Assad could do to avoid a military strike by the US was to give up his entire supplies of chemical weapons within a week.
This idea was seized upon by the Russians, who have remained an obstacle to UN support for military intervention in Syria, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov making the offer directly to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem during talks earlier today.
The US administration have said that Kerry was making a “rhetorical argument” rather than a serious offer when he made the statement, although the idea has found much support in US public opinion, where there remains little desire for another war in the Middle East after the problems and length of engagement in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
