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Russian lawmaker praises initiative to place Syrian chemical weapons under international control

Chairman of the State Duma’s committee for international affairs believes it to be a rational proposal
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, September 9 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s initiative on transferring Syria’s chemical weapons to international control opens up a realistic way out of the crisis without any military intervention, Dr. Aleksey Pushkov, the chairman of the State Duma’s committee for international affairs said in an interview with Itar-Tass Monday.

“Russia has put forward a very rational proposal, all the more so that the Syrian Foreign Minister has already agreed to it,” Dr. Pushkov said. “It offers a chance to untangle the crisis and lifts the main headache of the U.S., which says it needs to send a signal to Assad so as to prevent the use of chemical weapons by his government.”

The White House has two options now. One of them is to consider Russia’s proposal in earnest and to give a positive reply to it. “This will mean the American will use a chance to renounce their military action that has already split the world into two camps,” Dr. Pushkov said.

“This option might furnish the U.S. and President Obama, who positions himself as a peacekeeper, with a way out of the complicated political situation, the one the Americans have driven themselves into by their harsh statements and accusations,” he said.

Option number two is to ignore Russia’s proposal and to leave the military scenario as the only clue to resolving the situation in the region. “But this would be a bad decision, since the strike at Syria would undercut the U.S. prestige across the world,” Dr. Pushkov warned.

The root-cause of the conundrum lies in the fact the U.S. and its allies in the Persian Gulf are doing their utmost to supplant the Assad government for two year already.

“Right now we have an opportunity to check whether the U.S. really wants to rule out a further use of chemical weapons in Syria or whether its interests concentrate on replacement of the regime in Damascus,” Dr. Pushkov said.

Depending on the Americans’ response, the world will be able to judge the genuineness of the intentions and the true objectives of the U.S. foreign policy as regards the Syrian problem, he said.