Kerry talks tough on Syria: 'words are not enough'

The latest developments have gone rapidly from deadly chemical attacks to threats of retaliatory US air strikes, Syrian agreement with a Russian plan to turn over the weapons and, finally, to the crucial matter of working out the difficult details.

“We believe there is nothing standard about this process at this moment because of the way the regime has behaved,” Mr Kerry said. And he kept alive the threat of US military action, saying the turnover of weapons must be complete, verifiable and timely – “and finally, there ought to consequences if it doesn’t take place”.

Adding to the drama, Russian president Vladimir Putin weighed in from afar, raising eyebrows with an opinion piece in The New York Times that chided Americans for seeing themselves as “exceptional”.

That was an apparent reference to a comment President Barack Obama made in his Syria speech to the nation, explaining why he felt the US needed to take action.

Mr Putin also warned that a US strike against Syria because of chemical weapons use could unleash new terrorist attacks and maintained there was “every reason to believe” the weapons were used by rebels and not by Bashar Assad’s military. In Washington, Mr Obama’s spokesman said Russia was “isolated and alone” in that view.

Mr Obama, for his part, said simply that he was hoping for “a concrete result” from the Geneva talks.

The back-and-forth was a stark indication of the challenging work ahead as Mr Kerry, Mr Lavrov and their teams of chemical weapons experts plunge into talks aimed at finding agreement on how to dismantle the chemical weapons amid the confusion and danger of Syria’s civil war.

Mr Lavrov seemed to contradict Mr Kerry’s negative view of Assad’s offer to provide details on his country’s chemical arsenal beginning 30 days after it signs an international convention banning such weapons.

Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations said that as of yesterday his country had become a full member of the treaty, which requires destruction of all chemical weapons. But the United Nations said it would take at least another 30 days.

Mr Lavrov said the initiative must proceed “in strict compliance with the rules that are established by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons”. That suggests Russia does not agree with the US that this is an exceptional case and that Syria should face tougher standards than other countries.

“We proceed from the fact that the solution to this problem will make unnecessary any strike on the Syrian Arab Republic, and I am convinced that our American colleagues, as President Obama stated, are firmly convinced that we should follow a peaceful way of resolution to the conflict in Syria.” Mr Lavrov said.

The distrust in US-Russia relations was on display, even in an off-hand parting exchange at the news conference. Just before it ended, Mr Kerry asked the Russian translator to repeat part of Mr Lavrov’s concluding remarks.

When it was clear that Mr Kerry was not going to get an immediate re-translation, Mr Lavrov apparently tried to assure him that he had not said anything controversial.

“It was OK, John, don’t worry,” he said. “You want me to take your word for it?” Mr Kerry asked Lavrov. “It’s a little early for that.” They were smiling at that point.

Shortly after making their opening statements, the two went into a private dinner. Talks will resume today.

The meetings in Geneva got underway as Assad, in an interview with Russia’s Rossiya-24 TV, said his government would start submitting data on its chemical weapons stockpile a month after signing the convention. He also said the Russian proposal for securing the weapons could work only if the US halted threats of military action.

But Mr Kerry, who met Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations-Arab League envoy for Syria, made clear the threat remained.

“President Obama has been clear that should diplomacy fail, force might be necessary to deter and degrade Assad’s capacity to deliver these weapons,” he said. “It won’t get rid of them, but it could change his willingness to use them.”

The US is hoping that an acceptable agreement with the Russians can be part of a binding new UN Security Council resolution being negotiated that demands that Syria’s chemical weapons be put under international control and dismantled and condemns the August 21 attack that led to the current crisis.

Russia has long opposed UN action on Syria, has vetoed three earlier resolutions and has not indicated it is willing to go along with one now.