China, Japan Welcome US- Russian Accord on Chemical Weapons in Syria

BEIJING, TOKYO-China and Japan have welcomed the Russian-American deal concerning the chemical weapons in Syria.

In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during his meeting on Sunday with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, that the “framework “accord”, reached by the US and Russia will open new horizons for peaceful settlement of the crisis in Syria”. 

“The Chinese side welcomes the general agreement between the US and Russia. This agreement will enable tensions in Syria to be eased,” Wang Yi said.

For his part, Fabius called the pact “a significant step forward” but said that important procedures need to be adopted on the basis of the this general  framework pact.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, the Japanese government welcomed an agreement between the United States and Russia over the issue of chemical weapons in Syria, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

Fumio Kishida, the Japanese Foreign Minister, said in a statement that Japan hailed the agreement to secure Syria’s chemical weapons under international supervision.

Kishida said Japan will keep on contributing to the international efforts towards the cessation of violence, initiation of political dialogue and improvement of humanitarian conditions, according to the statement.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov announced on Sept. 14 that they agreed on a framework concerning chemical weapons in Syria.

H. Mustafa