Vladimir Putin Threatens UN Syria Vote over US Threat of Force

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Washington: An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council has been cancelled and the diplomatic initiative to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons is under threat after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the US and other nations must renounce the use of force against Bashar al-Assad's regime.

A lot of people say nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. Well, it's the credible threat of force that has ... brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal.

Putin's remarks complicate the outlook for the Russian proposal a day after it was presented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who seized on comments in London by US Secretary of State John Kerry about the possibility of Syria turning over its chemical-weapons stockpile.

Kerry and Lavrov plan to meet in Geneva on September 12 to discuss Syria, according to a State Department official who asked not to be identified in advance of an announcement. » | Bloomberg, AFP | Wednesday, September 11, 2013