No Meeting Ground for US, Russia, and Syria on Resolution

The two top diplomats from the U.S. and Russia were unable on Tuesday to draft a U.N. resolution regarding Syria's chemical weapons. They remain divided on the key points of the document, VOA reports.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the Security Council resolution during the U.N. General Assembly session in New York.

The U.S. and Russian ambassadors to the U.N. will continue to work out the draft language.

Russia opposes a mention of Chapter VII of the U.N. charter, which includes the use of military and non-military action to enforce decisions.

A UN resolution is required to enforce the agreement reached recently between the U.S. and Russia whereby Syria is to give up its chemical weapons stockpile.

Meanwhile, according to the NY Times, Syria’s deputy foreign minister, Fayssal Mekdad, said on Tuesday that his government wants to negotiate an end to the civil war by talking with a broad range of Syrians, from religious and community leaders to peaceful opposition group -- but not at all with the Western-backed exile opposition.

The U.S. was banking on those Syrians in exile to become tomorrow's leaders, once the current regime abdicate, bowing before world opinion. Well, that's not happening. In essence, the Syrian government is fully prepared to speak to its many supporters around the country, but not so much with the folks it's having a war with.