Deal reached on resolution on Syria weapons

UNITED NATIONS—The five permanent members of the deeply divided U.N. Security Council reached agreement Thursday on a resolution to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons, a major step in taking the most controversial weapon off the battlefield of the world’s deadliest current conflict.

Senior U.S., Russian, British and French diplomats confirmed the agreement, which also includes China.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said he would introduce the text to the Security Council’s 10 non-permanent members Thursday night.

A vote on the resolution still depends on how the full council responds to the draft, and on how soon an international group that oversees the global treaty on chemical weapons can adopt a plan for securing and destroying Syria’s stockpile. Diplomats said the earliest said the Russians agreed to support “a strong binding and enforceable resolution.”

But the draft resolution, seen by The Associated Press, makes clear that there is no trigger for any enforcement measures if Syria fails to comply with the provisions of the resolution or the dismantling of its chemical weapons stockpile. Instead, it states that in the event of non-compliance, or any use of chemical weapons, the Security Council will “impose measures under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter,” which will require a second resolution. the Security Council could vote would be late Friday.

On Twitter, Lyall Grant said the five veto-wielding members, known as the P-5, had agreed on a “binding and enforceable draft ... resolution.” A senior U.S. State Department official