Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Washington to abandon the option of military strikes against Syria in order to fulfill “a realistic, meaningful and viable” plan to put the chemical weapons arsenal under international control. He announced in Moscow that the talks between Russia and America which kick off today in Geneva will continue for days and aim to “coordinate positions to come out with a draft resolution to present to the Security Council”. Putin expressed hope that “not only will Syria put their chemical weapons arsenal under international supervision, but also to agree on it being destroyed later and to join the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. In this context the Chief of Staff of the Free Syrian Army in the Syrian National Coalition rejected the Russian initiative and called on the international community not to only put the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal under international scrutiny but referred to the need to hold the regime accountable for committing chemical crimes against civilians in Syria. Chief of Staff of the Free Syrian Army, Salim Idris, called on countries supporting the Syrian revolution to increase the amount of qualitative arms to Syrian fighters in order to resolve the battle and stop the bloodshed of the Syrian people . The Syrian National Coalition described the Russian initiative as an attempt to put the Syrian chemical weapons under international control as political maneuvering that seeks to buy time and set limits for the regime “in partnership with its allies for the blood of the Syrian people”. The Coalition said the initiative lacks the foundations of success and has a lack of confidence in the regime, pointing out that “the initiative requires that we trust Bashar al-Assad who has killed tens of thousands and denied the possession of the chemical weapons less than a week ago. It also requires confidence in the Russian government which continues to support Assad with weapons and money to kill the sons of the Syrian people”. The Coalition said that an initiative would be acceptable if it held accountable all those responsible for committing crimes against the Syrians, in addition to the issuance by the United Nations of Chapter VII , removing Russia from being an officer of the initiative of monitoring the chemical weapons . The Coalition a confirmed at the conclusion of its statement that what is happening in Syria is “not a civil war in any shape or form, but is a revolution of the people on the tyrannical authority that forced them to take up arms to defend their aspirations of freedom, justice and democracy.”
