US, Russia Agree on UN Syria Resolution

US and Russian officials say UN Security Council could vote on Syria chemical arms resolution as early as Friday. This follows after US and Russia have finally reached an agreement on a UN Security Council resolution aimed at disarming Syria of its chemical weapons.

a senior US and Russian officials said on Thursday the UN Security Council could vote as early as Friday night on a draft resolution to rid Syria of its chemical weapons, Al Jazeera.net report said.

Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s UN envoy has said he hoped the Security Council would be able to vote on a resolution ordering the eradication of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal about 8pm (0000 GMT on Saturday).

“I know that some ministers are extending their stay in New York in order to participate in that vote,” Churkin said.

A senior US official also express hopes of a vote, after Samantha Power, US ambassador to the United Nations, confirmed on Twitter that a deal was reached with Russia “legally obligating” Syria to give up its chemical stockpile, and that the measure would go up to the full Security Council on Thursday night, Al Jazeera.net reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had reached an understanding with Washington on a chemical weapons resolution. Mark Lyall Grant, Britain’s UN ambassador, said the Security Council permanent members agreed on a “binding and enforceable draft …resolution”.

Grant said Britain will introduce the text to the 10 other members of the Security Council at a meeting on Thursday night.

Comments on Thursday came a day after Sergey Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, has said negotiators had overcome a major hurdle and agreed that the text of the resolution would include a reference to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows for military and nonmilitary actions to promote peace and security, Al Jazeera.net reported.

The five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council have been discussing for weeks on what to include in a new resolution requiring that Syria’s chemical weapons be secured and dismantled.

The US and Russia had been at odds on how to enforce the resolution, reports said.

Ryabkov said earlier that his country was ready to help guard Syrian chemical weapons sites and destroy President Bashar al-Assad’s stockpiles, but it would not ship any of the chemical arms to Russia for destruction.

“We will be ready to help in guarding those facilities where work is being carried out,” the Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying at an arms fair in the Ural Mountains city of Nizhny Tagil.

Russia and the US are the only countries with industrial-scale capacity to handle mustard, VX, sarin or cyanide-armed munitions, but the import of chemical weapons is banned under US law, Al Jazeera.net reported.

Al Jazeera Reported Ryabkov said Russia would not import chemical weapons either, state-run RIA reported.

Noting that the Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the export of chemical weapons, he said: “We believe the destruction [of chemical weapons] on Syrian territory is the best option.”

US secretary of state John Kerry and Russia’s Lavrov approved the deal this month. The deal includes that inspections of chemical weapons sites in Syria are to be completed by November 30 and its entire arsenal destroyed by June 30.

A team of UN chemical experts arrived in Syria on Wednesday on their second mission to the country, where they will examine some 14 alleged incidents involving the use of chemical weapons, Al Jazeera.net reported.

On the team’s earlier mission, they investigated an August 21 attack in the outskirts of Damascus that reportedly killed hundreds of people. They were reported to have left their hotel in Damascus in a three-car convoy on Thursday but their destination was unclear, Al Jazeera.net report said.

Source: Al Jazeera.net