WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.N. General Assembly should move swiftly to approve a U.S.-Russia deal to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons, saying that there is no time to argue with those who are remain unconvinced that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government carried out a chemical attack last month.
Speaking Thursday at the State Department, Kerry didn't mention Russian President Vladimir Putin, but his remarks were a clear attempt to rebut Putin's statement that Russia has strong ground to believe that Syrian rebels — not Assad — were responsible for the attack.
Putin says the perpetrators relied on "primitive" technology using old Soviet-made ammunition no longer in the Syrian army's inventory.
Kerry says the U.S. believes a report by U.N. inspectors proves Assad conducted the attack.
