Lavrov, Kerry Reach Agreement On Syrian Chemical Weapons

September 15, 2013 • 9:41AM

The direction of human history changed Saturday, when at about 8 AM EST, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that they had agreed on a framework for the disposal of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal. Under the agreement, Syria must make a declaration of its chemical weapons stockpiles, storage facilities and production facilities in ten days, and international inspectors must be on the ground in Syria with unfettered access by November. The objective of the agreement is the destruction and/or removal of Syria's entire stockpile by the middle of 2014. The agreement also specifies that any issue of non-compliance would go to the UN Security Council for consideration under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, but Lavrov made clear that the use of force is not automatic, and, in fact, he said speculation on such matters is useless.

According to the account in the New York Times, Kerry and Lavrov held a series of meetings on Sept. 13, the last ending at midnight, and then this morning the two sides reconvened with their arms control experts, and Lavrov and Kerry were seen on the hotel's pool deck "sitting under a white umbrella drinking coffee as they pored over the text of the agreement." This process, wrote the Times' Michael Gordon "recalled the treaty negotiations during the Cold War."

Movement towards the agreement was apparently hastened by President Obama taking force off the table during discussions on the shape of a UN Security Council Resolution yesterday. Although Obama still "reserves the right" to launch military strikes against Syria, the administration acknowledged that Russia would never support a resolution authorizing the use of force.

After leaving Geneva, Kerry will be in Jerusalem on Sept. 15 to brief Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then he will fly to Paris for meetings with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and British Foreign Secretary William Hague. He will also meet with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, who will be in Paris at the same time. Saudi Arabia, the Times notes, has been a strong supporter of military action against Syria.

Excerpts From U.S.-Russia Framework Agreement on Syrian Chemical Weapons

September 15, 2013 • 9:45AM

What follows are excerpts from the "Framework for the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons," announced by the U.S. and Russia, yesterday, as posted on the website of the U.S. State Department:

"[T]he United States and the Russian Federation have committed to prepare and submit in the next few days to the Executive Council of the OPCW a draft decision setting down special procedures for expeditious destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons program and stringent verification thereof."

"The United States and the Russian Federation commit to work together towards prompt adoption of a UN Security Council resolution that reinforces the decision of the OPCW Executive Council. This resolution will also contain steps to ensure its verification and effective implementation and will request that the UN Secretary-General, in consultation with the OPCW, submit recommendations to the UN Security Council on an expedited basis regarding the UN's role in eliminating the Syrian chemical weapons program.

"The United States and the Russian Federation concur that this UN Security Council resolution should provide for review on a regular basis the implementation in Syria of the decision of the Executive Council of the OPCW, and in the event of non-compliance, including unauthorized transfer, or any use of chemical weapons by anyone in Syria, the UN Security Council should impose measures under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

"The proposed joint U.S.-Russian OPCW draft decision supports the application of Article VIII of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which provides for the referral of any cases of non-compliance to the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council."

"The United States and the Russian Federation expect Syria to submit, within a week, a comprehensive listing, including names, types, and quantities of its chemical weapons agents, types of munitions, and location and form of storage, production, and research and development facilities."

"We further determined that the most effective control of these weapons may be achieved by removal of the largest amounts of weapons feasible, under OPCW supervision, and their destruction outside of Syria, if possible. We set ambitious goals for the removal and destruction of all categories of CW related materials and equipment with the objective of completing such removal and destruction in the first half of 2014."

"The United States and the Russian Federation have further decided that to achieve accountability for their chemical weapons, the Syrians must provide the OPCW, the UN, and other supporting personnel with the immediate and unfettered right to inspect any and all sites in Syria."

"Under this framework, personnel under both the OPCW and UN mandate should be dispatched as rapidly as possible to support control, removal, and destruction of Syria's chemical weapons capabilities."