In order to iron out details and determine the feasibility of a Russian proposal to remove and destroy Syria's chemical weapons supply Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State John Kerry are planning to meet in Geneva on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Russia suggested the plan to disarm Syria last week when it looked as if Congress was preparing to vote on whether or not the United States would use military force against the government of Basahar al-Assad. A United Nations resolution was drafted by France to authorize the plan through the Security Council but was met with opposition from Russia over the resolution's allowance of military action should the Syrian government not comply within a given timetable, the Guardian reports.
U.S. officials have been clear that Thursday's meeting is not intended to focus on this point of contention; instead it is to see if the proposal will even work, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"Our goal here is to test the seriousness of this proposal, to talk about the specifics of how this would get done, what are the mechanics of identifying, verifying, securing and ultimately destroying the chemical weapons," Jennifer Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, told the Wall Street Journal. "And, this requires, of course, a willingness from both sides."
Despite saying that the meeting is not about settling that point Kerry explained in an online question and answer session that the two countries will need to find a compromise if the plan is to go through, according to the Guardian.
"We need a full resolution from the Security Council in order to have confidence that this has the force that it ought to have," Kerry said. That's our belief and obviously the Russians are at a slightly different place. We'll have to see where we get to. I'm not going to negotiate this out in public."
Some American politicians, such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., think that the Russians aren't serious about the proposal; instead they believe that it is merely a tactic used by the Syrian government to stall military strikes from the United States.
"I'm worried that we have a game of rope-a-dope for a while, and the slaughter goes on," McCain said. "We should have a very, very short period of consideration for this initiative."
