Kerry: Syria deal must be in binding UN resolution

Secretary of State John Kerry says a proposed Russian deal with Syria to give up its chemical weapons stockpiles must be enshrined in a binding UN Security Council resolution that sets consequences for Syrian non-compliance.

Kerry said Tuesday that Russian suggestions that the UN endorsement come in the form of a non-binding statement from the rotating president of the Security Council would be unacceptable to the Obama administration. Kerry said the US has to have “a full resolution from the Security Council in order to have confidence that this has the force that it has to have.” He added that the resolution must have “consequences if games are played and somebody tries to undermine this.”

Just minutes after Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime announced Tuesday that it would take those steps, Kerry said he hoped that it would “go further” in the interests of peace. He said the Syrian government must “live up to what they said just said they would do” and then cooperate with Russia “to work out a formula by which those weapons could be transferred to international control and destroyed.”

He said the regime should also enter a genuine dialogue with the opposition.

Kerry’s comments came during an online Google+ roundtable.

(AP)