US, Russia to meet in Geneva for talks on Syria

US Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Geneva on Thursday where he will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the details of a proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal under international control.

US Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Geneva on Thursday where he will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the details of a proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal under international control.

The high-stakes meeting could potentially impact whether the United States pushes forward with a threatened military strike against Syria in response to the government’s suspected use of chemical weapons in an attack outside the capital Damascus on August 21, which the US claims killed more than 1,400 people.

Russia gave the United States its plan on Syria ahead of the meeting in Geneva, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.

However, Russia already said earlier this week that the only way its initiative to put Syria’s chemical stockpiles under international control will work, is if the United States removes the continued threat of military action.

US President Barack Obama, meanwhile, said in a speech on Tuesday that he had asked Congress to postpone a vote on authorising the use of military force against Syria and that he was willing to explore diplomatic resolution.

Kerry is also expected to meet UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi while in Geneva, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said prior to the trip, adding that bilateral US-Russia talks could take at least two days, if not longer.

Russia has been one of Syria’s most powerful allies over the course of its two-and-a-half year crisis, which has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people, blocking three UN resolutions to impose sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.