France: Russia unwilling to accept UNSC resolution on Syria's weapons

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has revealed that Moscow is not willing to accept a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution placing Syria’s chemical weapons under international control.

France had proposed a draft resolution on this matter, which was initially accepted by the UK and the US.

However after a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, and in front of a number of French parliamentarians, Fabius admitted that Russia was not enthusiastic about such a resolution at this time.

Fabius noted that France started discussions about this draft resolution in New York with the UK and the US, both permanent members of the UNSC. He said that it is normal to reach an agreement before taking the process further.

As an alternative, Fabius expects that Russia, also a permanent member of the UNSC, probably prefers a “simple” presidential statement to be issued by the current head of the UNSC. This, he said, also needs a unanimous vote by all the council’s permanent members.