Syria update - 12Sep2013

The Guardian live blog

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Here's a summary of the main developments so far today:

• Bashar al-Assad has confirmed that his government will place its stockpiles of chemical weapons under international control. In a new interview for a Russian broadcaster he is reported to have insisted that the move was a response to Russian proposals not the threat of US strikes.

• US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, together with Russian and US chemicals weapons experts, are in Geneva to try to negotiate a workable deal on Syria's stockpiles. The negotiations could last up to two days and are expected to be difficult. Russia is resisting US, British and French attempts to threaten Syria with force if it fails to hand over its weapons.

• Russia has proposed a four-stage plan for Syria to hand over its weapons, according to AFP citing the Russian daily Kommersant. Under the plan Syria would:

1. Join the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW] the body that upholds the international ban
2. Disclose the location of chemical stockpiles
3. Allow OPCW inspectors access to the sites
4. Destroy the stockpile of weapons

• The rebel leadership in Syria has rejected the Russian proposal. In a video statement Salim Idriss, head of the rebel Supreme Military Council, said the international community should focus instead on holding the Assad regime to account for using chemical weapons.

• Russia has dispatched a "carrier killer" missile cruiser and other ships to the eastern Mediterranean in its largest naval deployment since Soviet times. The destroyer Smetlivy left a naval base in Sevastopol, Ukraine, on Tuesday on a mission to the Syrian coast, a military source told the state news agency Interfax on Thursday.

• UN inspectors investigating last month's chemical attack east of Damascus have compiled enough circumstantial evidence to suggest the Assad regime was responsible, diplomats have told Foreign Policy's The Cable blog. "You can conclude from the type of evidence the [identity of the] author," one said. French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said the report would be released on Monday and would implicate Assad's regime, according to AFP.

• Russia's leader Vladimir Putin has drawn a contrast between what he portrayed as Russia's diplomatic approach to Syria with the US threat of military intervention. Writing in the New York Times he also claimed Barack Obama's talk of US exceptionalism was "dangerous". Putin's comments prompted a furious reaction in the US. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez said they made him almost throw up.

afternoon post

• Disagreements seemed to multiply between the two sides negotiating a possible deal to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons. US secretary of state John Kerry said any UN deal "ought to" include "consequences if it doesn't take place," a reference to a use-of-force clause that Russia has rejected. Kerry also dismissed an Assad demand for 30 days to list his arsenal.

• Kerry appeared with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in advance of bilateral meetings in Syria. Teams of technicians were to help the two sides lay out a timeline on placing Syrian weapons under international control.

• The White House deflected questions about FSA Gen. Salim Idris' claim that the Syrian opposition has received no weapons from the US. "We continue to support the opposition... in tangible ways, through substantial and stepped-up assistance," spokesman Jay Carney said. The Washington Post reported the CIA has begun arming rebels.

• Assad said he would only join negotiations "when we see the United States really wants stability in our region and stops threatening, striving to attack, and also ceases arms deliveries to terrorists." Carney said Assad is not in a position to set conditions.

• The Obama administration and lawmakers attacked an op-ed by Russian president Vladimir Putin in today's New York Times. House speaker John Boehner called it "insulting." Minority leader Pelosi accused Putin of hypocrisy. White House spokesman Jay Carney said there was "a great irony" in the Russian leader freely airing his views in a US newspaper.

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