© ReutersRussian FM Sergei Lavrov (L) and US counterpart John Kerry meet in Bali, October 7, 2013
The Assad regime in Syria deserves credit for complying with the chemical weapons deal, US Secretary of State John Kerry said after the first high-level meeting with his Russian counterpart since Moscow and Washington agreed on the deal.
Kerry and Russian Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov met on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia on Monday morning.
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The process has begun in record time and we are appreciative for the Russian co-operation and obviously for the Syrian compliance," Kerry said.
The Secretary of State also said that the US has agreed with Russia to move towards Syria peace talks as soon as possible.
Lavrov stressed that Russia is satisfied with the process of chemical weapons elimination in Syria, saying that over the last two weeks "Damascus flawlessly cooperated with the international inspectors."
The two parties spoke after the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said that they had begun
eliminating Syria's chemical weapons, with chemical experts in Syria destroying missile warheads, aerial bombs, and chemical mixing equipment on Sunday.
"I think it's extremely significant that yesterday, Sunday, within a week of the (UN) resolution being passed, some chemical weapons were being destroyed," Kerry stressed. "I think it's a credit to the Assad regime, frankly. It's a good beginning and we welcome a good beginning."
Comment: Same game was seen with patsy Bin-Laden, who was killed over and over again. You don't want to kill a good enemy that you have spent good money to become the ultimate bogeyman in the eyes of the population. Just like you don't let the star in the TV soap operas die.