NATO chief welcomes U.S., Russia deal on Syrian chemical weapons

Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Saturday welcomed a U.S.-Russian framework agreement on the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons.

"This is an important step towards the goal of ensuring the swift, secure and verifiable elimination of Syria's stocks of chemical weapons. Full and unreserved Syrian compliance is now key," he said in a statement.

Earlier Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov reached agreement on a framework to secure and destroy Syria's chemical weapons by mid-2014 and impose UN penalties if the Bashar al-Assad government fails to comply.

"The international community has a responsibility to make sure that the long-standing norm and practice against the use of chemical weapons is maintained, and violators are held accountable," Rasmussen said.

The NATO chief also said the agreement should give further momentum to a political solution to end the conflicts in Syria.

• Russia's proposal on Syrian chemical arms 'acceptable' but 'under conditions': French FM
• Obama welcomes proposal to put Syrian chemical weapons under int'l control
• Kerry says Syria chemical weapons use "undeniable"
• UN mission to probe alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria
• U.N. mission to probe latest chemical weapon incident in Syria Monday
• Report of chemical weapon production by terrorists in Iraq worries Russia
• More evidence needed on use of chemical weapons in Syria: White House
• UN chief voices 'complete confidence' in chemical weapons invesitigation in Syria
• 
  Assad's use of chemical weapons would be "game changer": Obama
• China opposes use of chemical weapons

We Recommend

• DPRK holds military parade to mark 65th founding anniv.
• Highlights of MAKS 2013 Int'l Aviation and Space Show
• 10th China-ASEAN Expo opens in Nanning
• Photo story: A primary school of only two people
• An elderly Chinese street cleaner's love story
• 'College campus queens' welcome the new students
  
• 'Travel everywhere in Beijing': China Railway Museum
  
• Chinese sports stars' school photos
  
• Players shining at the 12th National Games of China