A Free Syrian Army fighter fires an anti-tank missile towards what the FSA said were locations controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the eastern Hama countryside on October 17. (Reuters)
Russia issued a statement on Saturday calling the U.S. proposal for Syria’s chemical weapons to be shipped out of the country “premature.”
The remarks issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry were a response to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement to National Public Radio on Thursday.
“My hope is that much of this material will be moved as rapidly (as) possibly into one location, and hopefully on a ship, and removed from the region,” Kerry said.
The ministry replied on its website, saying “experts are considering various options and technical ways to destroy the Syrian chemical weapons, including outside Syria.”
“Considering that this work is not yet finished, in our view it is so far premature to talk about any specifics,” the statement read.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is required to generate a detailed plan and corresponding time table to destroy the chemical weapons. The deadline is set for Nov. 15.
The OPCW functions under a U.S.-Russian agreement which stipulates Syria must destroy its chemical weapons by mid-2014.
(With AFP)
