Russia launched an unexpected diplomatic initiative to defuse the Syrian crisis yesterday when it called on the Assad regime to place its chemical weapons stockpile under international control, suggesting the move could head off a US military strike.
In a move that took western diplomats by surprise, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, announced that Moscow had proposed to Syria’s government that it should “not only put its chemical weapons storages under international control, but also have them destroyed subsequently”.
At a press conference in Moscow, Mr Lavrov said: “If the establishment of international control over chemical weapons in that country will avoid strikes, we will immediately begin working with Damascus.”
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