WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Syria on Monday embraced a Russian proposal for Bashar al-Assad to put his nation's chemical weapons under international control as part of an effort to head off a possible military strike by the United States over an alleged poison gas attack.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem told reporters in Moscow on Monday that his nation "welcomes" a statement from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said his country would urge Syria to take that step if it would avert a U.S. military response.
The comments came as Secretary of State John Kerry also seemed to endorse a similar scenario.
Assad "could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week," Kerry said during a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. "But he isn't about to do it and it can't be done obviously."
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