


That was before Syria's foreign minister surprised the international community by explicitly acknowledging for the first time it had chemical weapons and that it was ready to yield them to international monitors.

Having suddenly taken that step, it was unclear how what seemed to be a significant concession by Damascus would play out inside Syria and its 30-month-old civil conflict.

"Our commitment to the Russian initiative has the goal of ending our possession of chemical arms," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said in a statement read from Moscow and broadcast by Lebanon's pro-regime Al-Mayadeen channel. Mr. Moallem looked grim-faced and spoke hesitantly, in marked contrast to his usual relaxed appearances.

Syrian state media outlets including the state-controlled news agency SANA didn't carry Mr. Moallem's statement. Instead, Syrian state television reran an interview with President Bashar al-Assad by the U.S. TV network CBS that was recorded on Friday in which the Syrian leader threatens a regional war of unpredictable consequences in the event of a U.S. attack. In the interview, he also refuses to admit that Syria has chemical weapons.

The regime's initial embrace of the Russian initiative seemed to be a calculus that moving toward giving up its chemical weapons was a lesser price to pay than confronting the unknown costs of a U.S.-led strike on its military installations.

Though an attack could still happen, Syria's strategy served at least to delay it amid a flurry of international diplomacy to address Syria's offer. It also achieves, at least for now, a goal that Damascus and allies Iran and Russia have been pursuing for weeks: blocking unilateral action by the U.S. and its allies in response to an alleged chemical attack on Aug. 21, while keeping the matter under U.N. Security Council oversight.

Chemicals in War: Troy to Today


The move puts Mr. Assad's regime back in the role where it seems to feel most comfortable—maneuvering with the aid of Iran and Russia to exploit rifts and discord on the world scene.

Regime officials also suggested it will allow them to preserve recent military gains, achieved with the help of Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and to participate in any prospective peace talks from a position of strength.

The Eurasia Group, a political risk research firm, said Tuesday that Syria will exploit a "prolonged diplomatic engagement" associated with a chemical arms disarmament plan.

"In the first few weeks, we expect Bashar al-Assad's regime to cooperate and remain sufficiently constructive to minimize the risk of U.S. strikes," it said.

Earlier on Tuesday, before Syria said it would give up its chemical weapons, Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said his country "supports the Russian initiative that strives to stem the blood of Syrians and prevent a war whose repercussions could spread beyond the region."

Official and semiofficial newspapers in Damascus rushed portrayed the Russian initiative and the regime's swiftacceptance as a diplomatic triumph.

Al-Baath, the official paper of Mr. Assad's ruling party, suggested in a front page op-ed piece that the Russian and Syrian announcements were "previously coordinated calmly and away from the limelight."

Al-Baath said the initiative wasn't a response to off-the-cuff comments by Secretary of State John Kerry in London on Monday that Mr. Assad's regime could avert an attack by promptly handing his chemical weapons to the international community.

The newspaper also dismissed the one-week ultimatum issued by Mr. Kerry on Monday to Damascus to relinquish its chemical stockpiles.

"He [Kerry] knows before anyone else that it's impossible first for logistical and technical reasons, but this underscores for the thousandth time the U.S. administration's state of disorientation," it said.

—Nour Malas contributed to this article.

Write to Sam Dagher at sam.dagher@wsj.com