Putin, Obama agree to exchange data on Syria’s chemical arsenal - Lavrov's interview

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama have agreed to exchange data on Syria’s chemical warfare stockpiles, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said appearing on Russian TV Saturday night. Sergei Lavrov also said that they started their Syria dialogue in June 2012 when they met at the G20 summit in Los Cabos in Mexico.

They agreed at the time that they must do everything in their power to prevent Syria’s chemical stockpiles from falling into the wrong hands. Russia and the US have already asked the Syrian government to supply them with information about Syria’s chemical stockpiles. Lavrov also said on TV that his Geneva meeting with John Kerry had produced an agreement to press for a political solution in Syria, refrain from military interference there and have Syria’s chemical arsenal removed and destroyed by next summer. He said that Russia and the US had been trying to find out whether Syria’s chemical stockpiles are still safe. Syria has promised to start complying with the international chemical weapons ban even before signing it, from the moment it applies for signing. Lavrov said on TV on Saturday that this Syrian move had enabled Russia and the US to strike a deal on placing Syria’s chemical arsenal under international control. He also said it is of no importance whether Syria took this step in order to avert military action against it. Russia believes any report about supplies of chemical weapons to Syria must be immediately investigated by the UN Security Council. Lavrov said on TV on Saturday that this is part of agreements reached at last year’s summit of the G8 in Northern Ireland. He said Russia and the US are determined to stick to these agreements. The US has promised Russia to try to persuade the Western-recognized faction of the Syrian opposition to send delegates to the second Geneva conference on Syria. Lavrov also said on TV on Saturday that John Kerry had assured him of American efforts to bring American allies to the Geneva conference. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has insisted on UN-authorized investigations into allegations that chemical arms have been smuggled from Europe into Syria. "As regards reports on supposed supplies of chemical weapons from Europe, they need double-checking. All that must be put before the UN Security Council and investigated. If it is confirmed, the [smuggling] channels will have to be found out and cut short immediately," Lavrov said in a Russian television program on Saturday. Lavrov was speaking after he and US Secretary of State John Kerry reached an agreement on Saturday to bring Syrian chemical arms under international control and have all of them destroyed by mid-2014. The deal was the outcome of three days of talks between the two men in Geneva.

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