Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a plan for Syria to turn over its chemical weapons stockpile will only work if the United States agrees not to use force.
Putin told reporters on Tuesday that the plan “can work, only in the event that we hear that the American side and those who support the USA in this sense, reject the use of force.”
“You can’t really ask Syria, or any other country, to disarm unilaterally while military action against it is being contemplated,” he added.
“We will work together with Syrians and our US partners, and…I hope this will be a big step forwards towards a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis,” said Putin.
President Barack Obama has thrown his support behind a French resolution to the UN Security Council even as he pushes the idea of US airstrikes against Assad’s regime if that effort fails.
The resolution would demand that Syria open its chemical weapons program to inspection, place it under international control, and ultimately dismantle it.
(AP and Times of Israel staff)
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