Geneva Talks on Syria Chemical Weapons Enter 2nd Day: Not A Game

Local Editor

The US and Russian foreign ministers are due to hold their second round of talks in Geneva on how to secure Syria's chemical weapons.

US officials said Thursday's meeting was comprehensive and lasted about an hour. Talks could continue over the weekend.
However, it appears large disagreements still exist between the two governments.
In parallel, UN-Arab League envoy al-Akhdar Ibrahimi is due to attend Friday's meeting.

In Geneva, US Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated the US position that military force might be needed against Syria if diplomacy over Syria's chemical weapons stockpile fails.
"President [Barack] Obama has made clear that should diplomacy fail force might be necessary to deter and degrade Assad's capacity to deliver these weapons," Kerry said, as his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov looked on.

However, Lavrov made it clear that Russia wants the United States to set aside its military threats for now.
"We proceed from the fact that the solution of this problem will make unnecessary any strike on the Syrian Arab Republic," he said. "I am convinced that our American colleagues, as President Obama stated, are firmly convinced that we should follow peaceful way of resolution of conflict in Syria."

Kerry made clear that Washington, while exploring the offer, remains skeptical. "Expectations are high. They are high for the United States, perhaps even more so for Russia, to deliver on the promise of this moment," Kerry said.
"This is not a game and I said that to my friend Sergey when we talked about it initially. It has to be real. It has to be comprehensive. It has to be verifiable. It has to be credible. It has to be timely and implemented in a timely fashion, and finally there ought to be consequences if it doesn't take place."

For his part, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said the US option to use military force remains on the table while discussions proceed with Russia.
"The Chemical Weapons Convention is an important thing ... but that that would not be a substitute for working with us and the Russians to verify and ultimately destroy their stockpile," Harf said. She also brushed off Assad's suggestion that he would only finalize plans to give up his chemical arms when Washington stopped threatening Damascus militarily.
"The threat of military action is still on the table," Harf said.

Kerry is accompanied by a large retinue of experts in anticipation of detailed talks on how to turn the Russian offer into a concrete plan along the lines of disarmament accords between Washington and Moscow since the days of the Cold War.
The US delegation will present the Russians with US spy services' assessment of Syria's chemical arms infrastructure, said the US official traveling with Kerry.
Destroying chemical weapons in a war zone will be hard, the official added: "It is doable, but difficult and complicated."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team