The Syrian civil war has become a stalemate in recent months, with neither the rebels or the Assad regime making much progress, whilst the casualties continue to mount. Is a ceasefire now apolitical possibility?
Discussions on how best to rid Syria of its chemical weapons arsenal continues in the UN Security Council, but in an interview with Fox News Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the operation would cost about a billion dollars and would take a year or more.
Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomes the UN report demonstrating that sarin was used in the attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on 21st August, but rests the blame squarely on the Assad regime.
As Russia and the United States, and their respective allies, lock horns at the G20 and in the UN Security Council and perhaps eventually find a face-saving way out of their self-inflicted paralysis, the dynamic of the Syrian civil war has long taken a direction that will see neither of them as a winner.
A UN report has confirmed that sarin gas was used in a rocket attack on the Ghouta suburb of Damascus on 21st August, although it has not attributed blame.