WASHINGTON
United States (US) President Barack Obama said on Saturday that US-Russian agreement on framework for elimination of Syrian chemical weapons represented an important, concrete step toward the goal of placing Syria's chemical weapons stocks under international control to enable their complete destruction, noting that US remains prepared to act in case diplomatic efforts fail.
Welcoming the progress made between the United States and Russia through their talks in Geneva, Obama noted in a written White House statement that the framework provided the opportunity for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons in a transparent, expeditious, and verifiable manner, "which could end the threat these weapons pose not only to the Syrian people but to the region and the world."
"The international community expects the Assad regime to live up to its public commitments," he added.
However, Obama also underscored that much more work remained to be done regarding Syria.
He stressed that the US would continue working with Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the United Nations and others to ensure that this process is verifiable, arguing that there are consequences if the Assad regime would not comply with the framework agreed today.
"If diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act," Obama warned.
Obama stated that he decided, upon Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons to kill more than one thousand men, women, and children on August 21, that the US must take action to deter the Syrian regime from using chemical weapons, degrade their ability to use them, and make clear to the world that "we will not tolerate their use".
He further said the US now had the opportunity to achieve its objectives through diplomacy, "in part because of the credible threat of US military force."
US President thanked US Secretary of State John Kerry for his tireless and effective efforts, also mentioning his phone talk with the US Permanent Representative to the UN Samantha Power who was leading the negotiations at the UN Security Council in New York.
"The use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world is an affront to human dignity and a threat to the security of people everywhere," concluded Obama, emphasizing that they had a duty to preserve a world free from the fear of chemical weapons for children. "Today marks an important step towards achieving this goal."
Pentagon says no changes to US force posture in the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea
The United States Department of Defense, Pentagon, stated on Saturday that they haven't made any changes to the US military force posture in the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea following the US-Russian agreement on framework for elimination of Syrian chemical weapons.
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little issued a written statement with respect to the Geneva framework agreement on Syrian chemical weapons, saying "We haven't made any changes to our force posture to this point."
"The credible threat of military force has been key to driving diplomatic progress, and it's important that the Assad regime lives up to its obligations under the framework agreement," the statement added.
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