Now Russia urges Syria to hand over its chemical weapons after Kerry gave Assad a week to give them up

• .U.S secretary of state John Kerry lands in London for Syrian crisis talks
• .Mr Kerry is on quest to build support for airstrikes against Syria
• .Kerry: 'We have no better partner than Great Britain'
• .Assad ordered to hand over 'every single bit of his chemical weapons'
• .Russian Foreign Minister calls on ally Syria to obey ultimatum
• .White House is attempting to get Congress to back military intervention
• .Senate to vote on a 'limited and specific' intervention by US forces
• .Kerry tells press conference: 'There is no military solution' to Syria conflict
• .Hague sets out four British objectives for securing end to bloody civil war
• .Anti-war campaigner grappled with police during protest at Foreign Office

By TOM GARDNER

Russia had called on Syria to end the deepening international crisis by handing over its chemical weapons.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov launched an 11th hour bid to persuade ally Bashar al Assad to obey an ultimatum issued a few hour earlier by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Earlier today, Mr Kerry had told Syrian tyrant al Assad he had until the end of the week to hand over 'every single bit' of his chemical arsenal or face possible attack.

Pressure: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, called on Syria to comply with an American ultimatum to hand over its chemical weapons during a meeting Syrian counterpart  Walid al-Mouallem, right 

The U.S. Secretary of State issued the stark warning as he arrived in London on the latest leg of a whistlestop tour of Europe to garner support for intervention in Syria.

Mr Lavrov, who had just ended a round of talks in Moscow with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem, said that Moscow would try to convince the Syrians.

 

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'If the establishment of international control over chemical weapons in that country would allow avoiding strikes, we will immediately start working with Damascus,' Mr Lavrov said.

He added: 'We are calling on the Syrian leadership to not only agree on placing chemical weapons storage sites under international control, but also on its subsequent destruction and fully joining the treaty on prohibition of chemical weapons.'

His statement followed media reports alleging that Russian president Vladimir Putin, who discussed Syria with president Barack Obama during the group of 20 summit in St Petersburg last week, sought to negotiate a deal that would have Assad hand over control of chemical weapons.

Speaking earlier Mr Lavrov denied that Russia was trying to sponsor any deal 'behind the back of the Syrian people.'

The Russian move comes as Mr Obama, who has blamed Assad for killing hundreds of his own people in a chemical attack last month, is pressing for a limited strike against the Syrian government.

Bond: Secretary of State John Kerry, right, spoke of America's enuring special relationship with Britain during a press conference with Foreign Secretary William Hague, left, today

Crisis: Foreign Minister William Hague, left, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry renewed calls for action to end the humanitarian crisis destroying Syria

Mr Lavrov and Mr al-Moallem said after their talks that UN chemical weapons experts should complete their probe and present their findings to the UN Security Council.

Mr Al-Moallem said his government was ready to host the UN team, and insisted that Syria is ready to use all channels to convince the Americans that it wasn't behind the attack.
He added that Syria was ready for 'full cooperation with Russia to remove any pretext for aggression'.

Neither minister, however, offered any evidence to back their claim of rebel involvement in the chemical attack.

Mr Lavrov said that Russia will continue to promote a peaceful settlement and may try to convene a gathering of all Syrian opposition figures to join in negotiations. He added that a US attack on Syria would deal a fatal blow to peace efforts.

Speaking ahead of a crucial vote in Congress on U.S. involvement, Mr Kerry said there was compelling evidence that Assad's regime had used chemical weapons against its own people.

Negotiating table: US Secretary of State John Kerry, right, stressed the need for a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict during a press conference with Foreign Secretary William Hague

But in an tacit message to American politicians who have heavily resisted action in the Middle East, Mr Kerry said that any strike would be 'unbelievably small'.

'The United States of America - President Obama, myself and others - are in full agreement that the end of the conflict in Syria requires a political solution,' he said during a joint press conference with Foreign Secretary William Hague. 'There is no military solution and we have no illusions about that.

'But a resolution to this has to come about because the parties are prepared to come and negotiate that political solution. If one party believes that he can rub out countless numbers of his own citizens with impunity, using chemicals that have been banned for 100 years ... he will never come to the negotiating table. 

'A resolution will not be found on the battlefield, but at the negotiating table, but we have to get to that table.'

Mr Kerry - whose visit to the Foreign Office was met with a small but vocal anti-war protest - was asked what President Assad could do to avoid military action.

He replied: 'He can turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week.'

He added: 'He isn't about to do it and it can't be done, obviously.'

Mr Kerry used the opportunity to redouble his attacks on Assad, saying that the Syrian president's credibility was in question.

'He sends SCUD missiles into schools,' he said '(Washington) knows where the rockets came from and where they landed ... and it was no accident that they all came from regime -controlled territory and all landed (in opposition-held territory)'

In an interview on CBS's This Morning, Assad argued that the evidence Mr Kerry has disclosed about chemical weapons use amounts to a 'big lie' that resembled the case for war in Iraq the U.S. made to the United Nations over a decade ago.

Scuffle: A protester is stopped by police as John Kerry leaves the British Foreign Office in London earlier today

Protest: Anti-war protestors demonstrated outside the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office as U.S. Secretary State John Kerry visited Monday

Opposition: Kerry's arrival was met by a group of anti-war protesters outside the Foreign Office in London

Asked to respond, Mr Kerry said he would be confident to take evidence that the US intelligence committee has gathered into any court.

'What does he offer?' Mr Kerry asked. 'Words that are contradicted by fact.'

The White House has led international calls for the pressing need to prevent further atrocities after harrowing video emerged of an alleged chemical weapons attack which killed nearly 1,400 people.

However, America has appeared increasingly isolated after Prime Minister David Cameron was defeat in the House of Commons on a plan for UK involvement in military strikes on the al-Assad regime - blamed for deploying the banned munitions against its own people.

Mr Kerry highlighted the need for Britain to be part of diplomatic efforts to secure a resolution to the bloody civil war stressing the importance of the 'special relationship' between Britain and America.

But despite the landmark parliamentary vote, Mr Kerry said that the America has 'no better partner than Great Britain'.

He said: 'The relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom has often been described as "special" or "essential". And it has been spoken of thus, because it is.

'It was, before a vote the other day in Parliament, and it will be for long afterwards.

'Our bond is bigger than one vote, one moment in history.'

Fallout: Free Syrian Army fighter Mustafa Bekir, 23, who lost his legs in a Syrian Air Force strike, is carried by a family member into Turkey as thousands more flee the conflict

Escape: Thousands of people every day are now fleeing the bloody Syrian conflict, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned

Misery: A family waits at the Syrian border crossing of Bab al-Hawa, which is at the Syrian-Turkish border and manned by Free Syrian Army members

Mr Kerry appeared to be attempting to heal a diplomatic rift after he suggested that U.S. is prepared to join forces with its 'oldest ally,' France, to launch airstrikes against Syria after UK's vote rejecting military intervention.

He was met by a handful of anti-war protesters as he arrived at the Foreign Office.

Referring to the campaigners who unfurled banners which read 'no attack on Syria', Mr Kerry said: 'I think it would be good to hear people saying to a dictator "Keep your hands off chemical weapons that kill your own people. Protect your own people".

'I think it is important for us to stand up as nations for civility and against actions that challenge notions of humanity and decency and appropriate international behaviour.

'For almost 100 years, the world has stood together against the use of chemical weapons and we need to hear an appropriate outcry as we think back on those moments in history when large numbers of people have been killed because the world was silent - the Holocaust, Rwanda and other moments are lessons to all of us today.'

Defiant: Bashar al Assad said he was ready for an American-led military strike and expected that 'repercussions' would follow for the U.S, during an interview on CBS This Morning

Help: Foreign Secretary William Hague said there were a need for international action to resolve the 'desperate humanitarian situation' in war-torn Syria, pictured

Crisis talks: Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague today to look for a solution to the Syrian civil war

Bloodshed: Unverified footage uploaded to youtube allegedly shows a house destroyed following a battle between rebel fighters and Syrian government forces in the Syrian Christian town of Maalula

But he also addressed the wide public reluctance to enter another conflict in the Middle East.

Mr Kerry insisted that it would be a very limited intervention.

'We are not talking about war. We are not going to war. We will not have people at risk in that way,' he said.

'We will be able to hold Bashar Assad accountable without engaging in troops on the ground or any prolonged kind of effort in a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort that degrades his capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for Syria’s civil war.'

The president will take to the airwaves ahead of a nationally-televised address tomorrow, the eve of the first Senate vote on a 'limited and specific' intervention by US forces.

Last week, a parliamentary effectively ruled out British involvement in any attack on the Syrian regime.

Diplomacy: Foreign Secretary William Hague, left, meets with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry during his whistle-stop tour of Europe

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague, greets U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry outside the Foreign Office, this morning

Britain Foreign Secretary William Hague stands on the steps of the Foreign Office moments before US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives on a diplomatic mission to build support for military action against Syria

Security: John Kerry's car is flanked by police officers as he leaves the Foreign Office amid tight security

But despite this move, Mr Hague set out four objectives on which Britain would work closely with America.

He said: 'The UK and the U.S. remain closely aligned in four areas in particular. First, working to create the condition for a Geneva Two peace process that can lead to a transitional government in Syria.

'Secondly, addressing the desperate humanitarian situation. Third, supporting the moderate Syrian opposition and saving lives on the ground. And fourth, mustering a strong international response to the use of chemical weapons. 

'Our governments supports the objective that there can be no impunity for the use of chemical warfare in the 21st Century. 

'As an international community, we must deter further acts and hold those responsible for them responsible.'

Allies: Tyrant Bashar al-Assad, left, passed his thanks on to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his ongoing support in the G20 against a US led bid to launch military action against Syria

Surveys suggest President Obama faces a steep uphill battle to win Congressional approval for any armed response to the deadly August 21 chemical weapons attack in the outskirts of Damascus.

Speaking earlier in his trip, Mr Kerry said: 'All of us agreed, with not one dissenter, that Assad's deplorable use of chemical weapons, which we know killed hundreds of innocent people, including at least 426 children, on this occasion, this one occasion, crosses an international, a global red line,' he said.

'What the United States is seeking - not alone but with others, an increasing number - is to enforce the standard with respect to the use of chemical weapons.

'We are not seeking to become engaged in or party to or take over Syria's civil war.'

The diplomatic efforts by the U.S highlights the growing rift between the West and Russia over what action to take against Syria.

Today, it emerged Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for his support in the G20 against a U.S. bid to secure a wider international alliance for military action against the war-torn country.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem passed on his leader's appreciation during at the start of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

He said: 'The president asked me to pass on his thanks to Putin for his position during and after the G20 summit.'

European Union foreign ministers at the weekend also backed the need for a 'clear and strong response' to the use of chemical weapons after hearing from him.

But in a joint statement member states stopped short of endorsing any US-led strike, stressing 'the need to move forward with addressing the Syrian crisis through the UN process'.

French president Francois Hollande, the most vocal supporter of military action outside Washington, has said he will await the findings of UN weapons inspectors before deciding whether to act.