Syria War: State Department Skeptical Of Russian Proposal For Syria

Impact

Russia proposed on Monday its intention to push Syria to give up its chemical weapons arsenal to international control for destruction. The proposal has been met with some optimism as a potential solution to avoid U.S. military action in Syria while degrading Assad's chemical weapons arsenal.

But State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf swatted this new development with no indication of optimism to change the administration's course in Syria. She doubled down on the President's desire to push forward to use military force in Syria, calling Russia's move a "stalling tactic."  Live stream video of the briefing is available here.

"We have serious and deep skepticism," about Russia's proposal to get Syria to seriously consider a proposal to give up chemical weapons, said Harf, insisting that the U.S. should not take Russia's proposal as a reason to stall military action. 

"The Russians have repeatedly used stalling tactics," Harf said. "We must authorize the use of force as quickly as possible."