Under the terms of a Russian-brokered deal, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad would avoid western military strikes in response to a chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus which killed more than 1,000 people, by agreeing to hand over its entire chemical arsenal to international monitors. Following a comprehensive handover, the weapons would then be destroyed.

Arab states and Turkey could be part of the monitoring mission, he suggested.

Moscow insists that the Syrian opposition groups should also eliminate their chemical weapons stockpiles, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday.

In the interview with Channel One, Lavrov said “when our western partners repeatedly say that only the regime has weapons and that’s why only the regime could have used them, and the opposition has no chemical weapons, they are cunning.”

The Russian foreign minister cited “Israeli reports” saying that the rebels had at least twice seized the districts where the chemical weapons were stored. He also said the rebels have their own laboratories where make chemical weapons.