A report has said Russia and NATO are drawing up plans for a joint naval operation to help destroy Syria’s chemical weapons.
The plan, currently under discussion, would see NATO and Russian warships jointly protecting the Cape Ray, a US cargo ship that will process at sea about 500 tons of chemicals, Reuters reported on Friday.
Russia and NATO have said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Western military alliance’s Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen discussed supporting international efforts to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons at talks in Brussels on January 28.
After that meeting, Rasmussen “asked NATO’s civilian and military experts to prepare a presentation on what the available options are,” a NATO source told Reuters.
“We understand the Russians are doing the same thing on their side. We are talking here about a potential joint operation at the sea,” the source added.
“They are discussing a joint security operation in the Mediterranean for the Cape Ray, to protect it while it destroys the chemical weapons,” said a source at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is supervising the disposal of Syria’s chemical arms.
On September 14, 2013, Russia and the United States agreed on a deal, according to which Syria would see its chemical weapons eliminated and the US would in return not follow through planned military action against the country.
Syria has vowed commitment to the destruction of its chemical weapons despite difficulties caused by the conflict in the country.
The country has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. Millions have been displaced due to the unrest.
HN/HSN
Source Article from http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/15/350771/russia-nato-plan-syria-cw-operation/
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