Syria accepted on Tuesday a Russian proposal set forth Monday for the country to give up its chemical weapons to international control, destroy weapon storage sites, and enter a treaty banning chemical weapons.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested the idea to Syrian Foreign Minister Wallid al-Moallem—seemingly after US Secretary of State John Kerry made an arbitrary comment in a speech yesterday that Syria could avoid a US strike if President Bashar al-Assad were to hand over all of the country’s chemical weapons, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Many US leaders are skeptical however. President Barack Obama made clear the threat of US force would still remain even though the Russian proposal was a “positive development,” chiefly because the threat of a military strike keeps pressure on the Middle Eastern country, according to CNN. Senator John McCain stated that he was “very, very skeptical,” but also realized that al-Moallem’s agreement to the proposal—if legitimate—was not one that the US could pass up.