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Syria

Russia says it's working on plan for Syrian weapons

By Fox News
Published | Updated

Russia says it's working on the details of its proposal for Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control for subsequent dismantling, while French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced Tuesday that his country would propose a new resolution in the United Nations Security Council that would set out conditions for Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control and accept that they would be dismantled.

Fabius said the proposal will be under Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter -- which would back up the resolution with a threat of force if not applied -- and will "condemn" a chemical weapons attack in Syria on Aug. 21. France, along with the U.S., Great Britain, Russia, and China, is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. Those five nations also have veto power over any proposed resolution.

Russia, a staunch ally of Syria's government, has promised to veto any resolution by the U.N. Security Council that would authorize internationally-led military strikes against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On Tuesday, Lavrov said he was working on an "effective, concrete" plan to turn the weapons over to the international community and was discussing the details with the government in Damascus. Lavrov added that the proposal was not solely a Russian idea, but grew out of contacts with contacts with the United States.

The Chinese -- who, like the Russians are allies of the Assad government on the Security Council -- expressed their satisfaction with the Russian proposal Tuesday.

"We welcome and support the Russian proposal,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a regular news briefing, according to Reuters. "As long as it is a proposal that helps ameliorate the current tense situation in Syria, is beneficial to maintaining peace and stability in Syria and the region, and is beneficial to a political resolution, the international community ought to give it positive consideration."

Previously, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the United States government to proceed with "extreme caution" against the Syria government. Chinese President Xi Jinping told Obama at a G20 summit in Russia that a military strike could not solve the problem.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.