Policy

Putin: Syria Deal Requires Renouncing Air Strikes

Or else it won't work

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Russian president Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that a plan to have Syria turn over its chemical weapons "will work out only" if the United States and its allies "pledge to renounce the use of force" against the country.

"Certainly, this is all reasonable, it will function and will work out, only if the US and those who support it on this issue pledge to renounce the use of force, because it is difficult to make any country – Syria or any other country in the world – to unilaterally disarm if there is military action against it under consideration," Putin told Russian television network RT. 

Separately, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it would not support French plans to introduce a Security Council resolution that would force Syria to turn over its chemical weapons arsenal.