Russia and US put aside bitter differences over Syria, strike deal

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/14/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE98A15720130914

Russia and the United States put aside bitter differences over Syria to strike a deal on Saturday that may avert U.S. military action against President Bashar al-Assad.

After three days of talks in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded Assad account for his secret stockpile within a week and let international inspectors eliminate all the weapons by the middle of next year.

Under the Geneva pact, the United States and Russia will back a U.N. enforcement mechanism. Russia is unlikely to support the military option that President Barack Obama said he was still ready to use.

To that end, the Pentagon said U.S. military forces were still positioned to strike, if ordered.

But for Assad's opponents, who two weeks ago thought U.S. missile strikes were imminent in response to a gas attack on rebel territory, the deal was a blow to hopes of swinging the war their way.

The accord, however, was as much about U.S.-Russian ties as it was about Syria. The conflict has chilled relations to levels recalling the Cold War.

In reaching a bilateral deal after what one U.S. official described as three days of "hard-fought" debate, Moscow and Washington can each count benefits.

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, it brings management of the Syrian crisis back to the United Nations. For Obama, it solves the dilemma created by Congress' reluctance to back military strikes that he was preparing without a U.N. mandate.