Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that Russia and its U.S. partners agreed to work in the near future to settle the crisis in Syria.
"We agreed with our U.S. partners on the necessity of working in the near future to settle the crisis in Syria," said Putin in a press conference at the end of the activities of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization Summit in the Indonesian city of Bali.
He noted that work on dismantling the chemical weapons in Syria will continue at the same pace.
The Russian President pointed out that doubts concerning whether the Syrian leadership would adequately respond to the regulations of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) have been allayed since the Syrian leadership is actively and transparently participating in this work.
Putin expressed hope that this work would continue at the same pace and manner, adding that the timeline for this work can be determined only by experts.
Putin said the US and Russia have a mutual understanding about what [is to be done] and how to do things, which followed his talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the summit in Bali.
On the [issue of the] future of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, President Putin reiterated that the Syrian people are the only party to determine this issue.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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