U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. and Russia have agreed that Syria's chemical weapons must be destroyed or removed by mid-2014. Kerry outlined a six-point framework under which Syria must hand over a full list of its stockpile within a week. After three days of talks in Geneva between Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Kerry called on the Bashar al-Assad government to live up to its public commitments.

In a joint news conference, Kerry and Lavrov said if Syria fails to comply, the deal could be enforced by a UN resolution backed by the threat of sanctions or military force. Kerry said inspectors must be on the ground by November, and that the stockpiles should be removed or destroyed by mid-2014.

The two diplomats and U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi have been discussing for three days a Russian plan on how to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control. The move could avert a U.S. military strike in retaliation for the Syrian government's alleged poison-gas attack on civilians last month near Damascus.

France, which was the only country willing to join the US in taking military action in Syria, welcomed the agreement. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said it was an important advance. However, the military leader of the anti-Assad Free Syrian Army rejected the deal and promised to continue fighting. Gen Salim Idriss, describing it as a Russian initiative designed to gain time for the Syrian government said there is nothing in this agreement that concerns them.