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Spiegel Online
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's delay in signing a US-backed resolution against the use of chemical weapons in Syria is being portrayed as a major misstep. Now, as Washington continues its diplomatic offensive, Merkel faces a political backlash at home.German Chancellor Angela Merkel always seems to enjoy the return journey after a political summit. Exhausted but finally able to unwind, she is full of anecdotes and happy to be on her way home.
Reuters
As President Barack Obama struggled to rally Congress and the American people behind military action in Syria, Russia seized on a remark by his secretary of state on Monday to say Damascus should save itself by handing over its chemical weapons.John Kerry was quick to dismiss as hypothetical his own comment that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could avert U.S. strikes by surrendering his chemical arsenal to international control. But Assad's ally Russia quickly turned it into a firm proposal that was "welcomed" by Damascus and echoed by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.
Al Jazeera America
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned the United States against striking his country and denied using chemical weapons against his own people, as President Barack Obama embarked on a media campaign Monday to push for air strikes on Syria and Congress reconvened from its summer recess.In a CBS interview, his first with an American television network in two years, Assad said an attack by international forces may prompt retaliation from Syria's allies. He also denied using chemical weapons attack on Syrians, adding that evidence was not conclusive that there had been such an attack last month.
"There has been no evidence that I used chemical weapons against my own people," CBS on Sunday quoted Assad as saying in an interview conducted by Charlie Rose in Damascus.
Involvement in the Syrian war runs against the interests of the United States, Assad added during the CBS News interview. He also warned about "repurcussions" if the U.S. strkes Syria: "Expect every action," he said.
New York Times
MOSCOW — Seizing on a remark by Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia called on Syria on Monday to put its stockpiles of chemical weapons under international supervision and eventually to destroy them, offering a compromise that could avert an American-led strike in response to a poison-gas attack near Damascus last month.As President Obama struggled to secure support at home and abroad for a military response, Russia’s surprise proposal quickly gained widespread and perhaps unexpected backing from the United Nations, Britain, France and even some Republican lawmakers in Washington.