Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon is happy with the evolution of “serious international discussions” that have the prospect of convincing the UN Security Council to reach an agreement on securing and destroying Syria’s chemical weapons.
According to a UN spokesman in New York, Ban Ki-Moon “welcomes, therefore, President Obama’s decision to take time to further explore this diplomatic opportunity to achieve this crucially important objective.”
In the last three days, the media has been replete with some frenetic diplomatic activity on the heels of Russia’s proposal for the south-western Asian country to surrender its chemical weapons and place them under international control.
Already, a UN team investing the possibility that chemical weapons were used in Syria on 21st August 2013 is currently embarking on laboratory analyses of its findings in Europe.
Delivering a nationwide address on Wednesday night, United States President, Barack Obama had expressed optimism that the days ahead could yield positive results, especially as US Secretary of State John Kerry is primed to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Thursday for further talks. He equally made a commitment to continue his discussions with President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
Russia and the US, in addition to China, France and the United Kingdom, are permanent members of the powerful UN Security Council, which has continued to stall over an effective solution to two-and-a-half years of crisis in Syria.
“The UN chief welcomed the efforts by the Russian Federation to advance a possible agreement,” the spokesperson said. “He hopes the US-Russian meetings later this week will be productive in moving toward a process for addressing the Syrian chemical weapons threat which all parties will be committed to.”
He added that Ban Ki-moon remains unyielding in his belief that “the confirmed use of chemical weapons would be an outrageous crime for which there must be accountability and determined efforts to prevent any recurrence.”
