UN Approves Resolution on Syria Disarmament

The United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to adopt a resolution that requires Syria to eliminate its arsenal of chemical weapons. The resolution places binding obligations on the nation.

The vote late Friday by the 15-member council ended weeks of intense diplomacy between Russia and the United States. It is based on a deal between the two countries reached in Geneva earlier this month following a sarin nerve gas attack on a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds.

The U.S.-Russia deal averted punitive U.S. military action against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which Washington blamed for the August attack

The decision comes after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons approved a plan that outlines the timeline for cataloging and ultimately destroying Syria’s chemical weapons.