Obama: Russia’s chemical weapons proposal may be a “significant breakthrough”

President Obama on Monday described a Russian proposal for Syria to turn over control of its chemical weapons to international monitors in order to avoid a military strike a “potentially positive development,” which could represent a “significant breakthrough.”

He added, though, that he was deeply skeptical the Syrian government, based on its track record, would follow through on its obligations.

“Between the statements that we saw from the Russians — the statement today [Monday] from the Syrians — this represents a potentially positive development,” Obama said in an NBC interview. “We are going to run this to ground.

Obama also said that “if we don’t maintain and move forward with a credible threat of military pressure, I do not think we will actually get the kind of agreement I would like to see.”

“It’s possible, if it’s real,” the president said of the Russian proposal.

[Secretary of State] John Kerry will be talking to his Russian counterpart. We’re going to make sure that we see how serious these proposals are.”

In a separate ABC interview, Obama said that if Assad were to give up his chemical weapons, a military strike would “absolutely” be on pause.

The New York Times reports that the Russian proposal also was viewed with some skepticism by the Obama administration, with senior officials saying the proposal could possibly be a delaying tactic aimed to undermine Obama’s already tenuous efforts to push for a military strike.

The Washington Post reports that the proposal by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moualem in Moscow was the first sign that a diplomatic solution to the crisis over chemical weapons may be possible.

In Washington on Monday, deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken told reporters that the United States “would welcome a decision and action by Syria to give up its chemical weapons.”

He expressed skepticism, though, that Syria would do so.

Aware of the Russian proposal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delayed a Senate test vote authorizing military force in Syria which was planned for Wednesday.

A few hours earlier, in London, Secretary of State John Kerry outlined a transfer-of-control scenario similar to the Russian proposal, but then dismissed it when asked by a reporter whether there was anything that Assad could do to avoid an attack. “Sure, he could turn over every bit of his weapons to the international community within the next week, without delay,” Kerry said. “But he isn’t about to.”