Russia calls on Syria to hand over, destroy chemical weapons

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says this would help them "avoid military strikes".

MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Monday on the Syrian regime to hand over control of its chemical weapons arsenal to international supervision as a way of staving off the threat of military action.

After talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem in Moscow, Lavrov called on Syria to "place the chemical weapons under international control and then have them destroyed".

He said such a plan would help "avoid military strikes" that are being considered by the United States and its allies. Lavrov said he had already passed the proposal to Muallem in Moscow and hoped for a "quick and positive answer" from Syria.

Russia said last week any military action against Syria's government could have catastrophic effects if a research reactor near the Syrian capital that contains radioactive uranium was struck "by design or by chance".

US Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier on Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could avoid a US strike by surrendering all his chemical weapons within a week, but immediately made clear he was not making a serious offer.