Syria on Tuesday said the government would take the deal proposed by Russia to turn over its chemical weapons cache to international control, the nation’s foreign minister said.
“[Monday] we held a round of very fruitful negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Serge[y] Lavrov and he put forward an initiative regarding chemical weapons. Already in the evening we accepted Russia’s initiative,” said Walid Muallem, the foreign minister, in a statement reported by Russian news and picked up by USA Today.
Syria’s apparent agreement came on the heels of an announcement from France that it would bring a resolution to the U.N. Security Council appealing for Syrian President Bashar Assad to release details of his chemical weapons program. Syria’s agreement also came just as the Arab League said it favored the Russian program.
On Tuesday, China announced it would back Russia’s plan, too.
Mr. Lavrov said the two countries are crafting a plan for the Syrian government to put its chemical weapons under the control of the international community, Reuters reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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