Russia foresees'non-trivial' solutions to Syrian chemical weapons removal delay

"Non-trivial solutions" could be adopted over the process of destruction of Syrian chemical weapons, a senior Russian diplomat said Friday. "Security issues have been actively considered now. The non-trivial solutions could be announced shortly," Interfax news agency quoted head of the Security and Disarmament Department in the Foreign Ministry, Mikhail Ulyanov, as saying. Noting that Russian, Chinese, Canadian, Danish and Norwegian warships would guide transports from Syria to international waters, Ulyanov said the timetable for the chemicals' removal set by the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had been "poorly prepared." "Obviously, the schedule has been poorly calculated and does not take into account the specifics of the war-torn country," the diplomat said. The OPCW's plan envisages the removal of the deadliest chemical components from Syria by the end of 2013. However, the security situation along the road linking the chemical storage points and the port of Latakia had disrupted transportation, Ulyanov said. He said armed rebels attacked the trucks carrying war chemicals on Jan. 27. The deadline for removal of all chemical weapons has been scheduled for June 30. Ulyanov described that deadline as "real enough." He said there were no reasons to suspect that Damascus deliberately hampered the process of chemical disarmament. "Those factors are of an objective nature," the diplomat said, describing the conditions in the country as "unprecedentedly difficult." Russia initiated the idea of removing Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons, estimated by the government at 1,300 tons. The United States Thursday blamed the Syrian government for slow progress in removing its stockpiled chemical weapons, urging Damascus to take "necessary steps" to expedite the process.