Syria Accepts Russian Chemical Weapons Proposal

05:35

September 10, 2013

Syrian President Bashar Assad is pictured in Tehran, Iran, August 2009. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Meeting with Russian officials in Moscow, the Syrian foreign minister said today that his government has accepted a Russian proposal to turn over chemical weapons, calling it a plan to "derail U.S. aggression."

President Obama said the Russian proposal could be a breakthrough but he remained skeptical that Syria would actually comply.

As diplomats discuss the details, President Obama heads to Capitol Hill to meet with senators who have delayed taking a vote on a resolution that would authorize limited military strikes against Syria for up to 90 days.

Was this latest diplomatic about-turn on Syria a plan that had been in the works before Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to stumble into it in a news conference yesterday?

Full coverage of the conflict in Syria

Guest

Michele Kelemen, diplomacy correspondent for NPR. She tweets @MkelemenNPR.

This segment aired on September 10, 2013.