(VOVworld) – The UN has for the first time admitted that Syria can hardly move its most dangerous chemical weapons out of the country by December 31. In a joint statement released on Saturday, the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) called on the Government of President Bashar Al Assad to make greater efforts to meet the deadline set by the international community. The December 31 target is the first important milestone under an agreement reached by the US and Russia and sponsored by the UN Security Council. It was aimed to eliminate all chemical weapons of Syria before the middle of 2014. Under the agreement, about 500 tons of Syria’s most dangerous chemical weapons will be destroyed at sea and the process will end on March 31, 2014.

Syria is unlikely to remove chemical weapons on schedule (Photo: New Yorker)