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Russia on Monday called on Syria to join the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and put its chemical weapons storage facilities under international control.
"We have given our proposal to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Moualem and we expect a prompt and, I hope, positive response," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a statement after his talks with Moualem.
"We urge the Syrian leadership not only to agree to put the chemical weapons storages under international control but also to agree on its following destruction and on full-fledge joining of the OPCW," he said.
Moscow was ready to immediately participate in the international efforts to control chemical weapons in Syria if that would avert the threat of the U.S. military strikes, the diplomat added.
Moualem swiftly assured that Damascus welcomed Lavrov's initiative.
"Syria welcomes Russian initiative proceeding from Russian leadership's care of safety of our people and country," he said.
Also on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington might reconsider its decision to strike Syria if Assad turns over "every single bit" of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week and allows the full and total accounting for that.
The United States threatened to carry out a military strike against Syria to punish Bashar al-Assad's regime for an alleged use of chemical weapons against rebels and civilians.
Damascus denied the government troops had used chemical weapons while Moscow has repeatedly called for thorough investigation of these cases.
After his talks with Moualem, Lavrov said Russia possessed " plentiful" evidence that chemical weapons in Syria were used by the armed opposition and not the government troops.
