Russia™s President Vladimir Putin addresses the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia, October 8, 2013.<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Syria is cooperating œvery actively” with the international experts who are in the Arab country to eliminate its chemical arsenal.\n<\/p>\n
œThe Syrian leadership has very actively joined this work and is acting in a transparent manner, helping international agencies,” Putin told reporters on Tuesday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Bali, Indonesia.\n<\/p>\n
The Russian president also pointed to the œdoubts about whether the Syrian leadership would adequately respond to the decision taken on chemical weapons,” adding, œThese doubts did not bear out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The remarks came as the team of experts from the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) continue their mission in Syria.<\/p>\n
The experts say some facilities that were used to operate chemical weapons have been disabled so far.\n<\/p>\n
Putin also expressed trust on the work of disarmament team that began its mission on October 6.\n<\/p>\n
The Russian President stated that he had discussed the situation in Syria with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who also attended the summit.\n<\/p>\n
œWe generally have the same goals aimed at stabilizing the situation [in Syria], achieving democracy, creating peaceful conditions for civilians.”\n<\/p>\n
The expert team in Syria is implementing a UN resolution on scrapping the Syrian chemical arsenal. The UN Security Council approved the resolution on September 27 to avert a US-led military strike against the Arab country.\n<\/p>\n
The team has until November 1 to inspect the chemical weapons arsenals declared by the Syrian government and supervise the destruction of the related facilities. The weapons must be eradicated by mid-2014.\n<\/p>\n
Putin also raised hope that the process of elimination œwill continue at the same pace, in the same spirit.”\n<\/p>\n
The Russian president also welcomed Jakarta™s participation in the upcoming Geneva II conference on Syria.\n<\/p>\n
Russia™s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow and Washington had agreed to push for holding the planned conference in mid-November.\n<\/p>\n
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