UK Guardian: Obama and Putin discussed this Syrian chemical weapons plan at the G20 summit last week

[pampango]

Russia has backed up US claims that Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin discussed the idea of putting Syria's chemical weapons under international control at the G20 summit last week.

On Monday the idea appeared to emerge from a slip by US secretary of state John Kerry, which was then seized on by Moscow.

But in TV interviews Obama insisted that he had first raised the idea at the G20 summit as his administration scrambled to claim credit for the Russian deal and insisted Syria was responding to US pressure. "It is unlikely that we would have arrived at that point without a credible military threat," Obama told CNN.

Now Obama's version of events has been backed by Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "The issue was discussed," Peskov told Reuters. He would not say who raised the issue or give other details.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/10/syria-crisis-iran-backs-russia-chemical-weapons-plan-live

Interesting that neither side made public the idea of "putting Syria's chemical weapons under international control" at the time. Nothing seemed to come of it until Kerry mentioned the gist of it in a seemingly off-hand manner. Russia was able to quickly accept the concept because it was something Putin had already discussed with Obama.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. But the strange thing is the way the State Dept tried to disown what Kerry said

before Russia took it up:

Secretary of State John Kerry was making a rhetorical comment when he said on Monday that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad would not hand over his country's chemical weapons.

Kerry told a news briefing on Monday that Assad could avoid a military strike by turning over all his chemical weapons within a week but added that Assad was not about to do that.

"Secretary Kerry was making a rhetorical argument about the impossibility and unlikelihood of Assad turning over chemical weapons he has denied he used," a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

"His (Kerry's) point was that this brutal dictator with a history of playing fast and loose with the facts cannot be trusted to turn over chemical weapons, otherwise he would have done so long ago. That's why the world faces this moment."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/09/us-syria-crisis-weapons-idUSBRE9880GE20130909

This all seems chaotic.

[pampango]

2. It certainly seems that way. The Guardian article did not say that Obama and Putin agreed on a plan,

just that they discussed it.

Who knows for sure, but Kerry knew of the discussion and (un)intentionally mentioned it. Since Putin had not publicly (perhaps not even privately) agreed to the plan, the State Department walked it back. Then Putin publicly endorsed it.

The Guardian article did not state whether Obama or Putin brought up the international control idea. If it were Putin's idea which Obama had reservations about, then Kerry really stuck his foot in his mouth when he mentioned the idea. Russia's foreign minister, Lavrov, should have been giving the idea publicity to put pressure on the US.

If, OTOH, the plan for international control came from Obama and Putin at least initially had reservations, Kerry might have been prodding the Russians by mentioning it (un)intentionally. (If State then walks it back, does that make it easier for Putin to accept it without appearing to be pushed?) At least in this scenario Kerry was bringing up an American idea, not a Russian one.

[Catherina]

6. I think there's a split in the administration

With the Generals who denounced this from the beginning on one side and the war hawks on the other.

I genuinely don't believe Obama wants this or ever even did. The plans were put in place before he was even a Senator, He's aged tremendously in the last few months.

[randome]

3. Ooooh! Greenwald's gonna be mad!

[hr][font color="blue"][center]A ton of bricks, a ton of feathers. It's still gonna hurt.[/center][/font][hr]

[frylock]

4. was the "red line" remark all part of the act too?

how long have Obama, Kerry, and Putin been rehearsing this? is there going to be a post-production party?

[leftstreet]

5. And the UK vote?

[frylock]

7. and of course this is entirely dependent upon assad playing along..

and, you know, using the CW. so I suppose that he's part of the cast of players as well.

[Catherina]

8. You beat me to it. More: Putin 2 RT: Syria chem arms handover will work only if US calls off strike"

Just now from RT

Putin to RT: Syria chem arms handover will work only if US calls off strike
Published time: September 10, 2013 17:00


Speaking exclusively to RT, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Syria’s chemical arms handover will only work if the US and its allies renounce the use of force against Damascus.

"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," President Putin told exclusively to RT on Tuesday.

Putin said the disarmament of Syria’s chemical weapons had been extensively discussed by experts and politicians.

The Russian president said that he and President Barack Obama had “indeed discussed” such a possibility on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg last week.

It was agreed, Putin said, “to instruct Secretary of State (John Kerry) and Foreign Minister (Sergey Lavrov) to get in touch” and “try to move this idea forward.”

...
Despite voicing “some serious skepticism,” Western countries supported the move, stressing the importance of Assad fulfilling the agreement and surrendering the weapons stockpiles.

...

In response to Russia’s proposal, Obama said he was willing to “absolutely” put on pause a military strike on Syria if Assad accepts the offer.

...

http://rt.com/news/putin-syria-chemical-weapons-669/

So now we wait and see if the US calls everything off.