A meeting session of the UN Security Council in New York (Photo: AFP)

The UN Security Council members have met in New York to discuss Russia’s proposal on placing Syria’s chemical weapons under international control. According to diplomatic sources, they discussed a draft resolution proposed by France calling for delivering an ultimatum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government to give up its chemical arsenal or face punitive measures. However, Russia has said that text is unacceptable.

Many countries welcomed the Russian proposal. EU's foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton told the European Parliament on Wednesday that it should rest with the UN Security Council to come up with decisive measures to end the Syrian conflict. She called for solidarity from the international community for a political act to resolve the conflict. The Iraqi government expressed its support for the Russian proposal, calling it an opportunity for issuing a political measure in Syria.

In related news, Alexei Pushkov, head of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma said Russia has evidence that the Syrian opposition possessed and used chemical weapons. Pushkov noted that the militants used chemical weapons near Aleppo in March and that was acknowledged by Carla Del Ponte, a member of the special independent commission of the UN investigating human rights violations in Syria.