PARIS — Secretary of State John Kerry and the foreign ministers of France and Britain said Monday they would not tolerate delays in dismantling Syria’s chemical weapons and would press ahead with a strong resolution in the UN Security Council to enforce the disarmament plan.
However, a potential conflict with Russia emerged on the question of how the United Nations would respond if President Bashar Assad fails to meet deadlines for disclosing chemical weapons and turning them over for destruction.
“It is extremely important that there are no evasions,” said William Hague, the British foreign secretary, at a joint news conference.
“If Assad fails in time to abide by the terms of this framework, make no mistake, we are all agreed — and that includes Russia — that there will be consequences,” Kerry said.
Kerry met in Paris on Monday with his counterparts from France, Britain, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia about seeking the UN resolution that would detail how world nations can secure and destroy Syria’s chemical arsenal.
The agreement reached with the Russians calls for an inventory of Syria’s chemical weapons program within one week, with all components of the program out of the country or destroyed by mid-2014.
France and the United States insisted Monday that a military response to the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack remained on the table and were pressing for a UN resolution reflecting that in coming days. ‘‘It has to be strong, it has to be forceful, it has to be real, it has to be accountable, it has to be transparent, it has to be timely. All of those things are critical. And it has to be enforced,’’ Kerry said. ‘‘We will not tolerate avoidance or anything less than full compliance by the Assad regime.’’
Kerry said the agreement ‘‘fully commits the United States and Russia to impose measures under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter in the event of noncompliance.’’ Chapter 7 resolutions allow for military enforcement.
In Moscow, meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Chapter 7 was the subject of ‘‘fierce debate’’ during the US-Russia talks that culminated with the announcement of a deal Saturday. Lavrov stressed that ‘‘the final document . . . doesn’t mention it’’ and that the Security Council resolution being negotiated will not be under Chapter 7, the Associated Press reported.
He said if Syria fails to cooperate, the Security Council can pass an entirely different resolution ‘‘which may employ Chapter 7.’’
‘‘Our American colleagues wanted very much to have this resolution adopted under Chapter 7, but the final document that we have adopted and which is a guide to action and is our mutual obligation, contains no such mention,’’ Lavrov told reporters after meeting Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy on Monday.
Lavrov stressed that ongoing attempts to threaten the use of force against Syria would provoke the opposition and disrupt a chance for peace negotiations in Geneva that the United States and Russia have been trying to organize.
A major question is whether the United States and its allies are pursuing the short-term goal of dismantling Syria’s chemical arsenal at the expense of pressing Assad to relinquish power.
The schedule for eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons is very ambitious. Experts said eliminating the entire arsenal by the middle of 2014 will depend heavily on the cooperation of the Assad government over the ensuing months.
In London, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Syria will comply with all Security Council resolutions and will facilitate the mission of the UN inspectors in line with the agreement. The comments were carried by state-run SANA news agency, which said Zoubi made the comments in an interview with Britain-based ITN TV on Sunday.
At the Paris meeting, Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, said removing Assad’s chemical arsenal would weaken his military position and eventually smooth the way for his ouster.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.