The US believes Syria's large stock of chemical weapons will be destroyed on schedule by the end of June 2014, officials say.
"I am increasingly confident that we will be able to complete this task, the elimination of the Syria's chemical weapons program, within the target date of June 30th of next year," said Thomas Countryman, assistant secretary for international security and non-proliferation.
He was speaking as the UN's chemical watchdog said Syria's entire declared stockpile had been placed under a seal and all its chemical arms production equipment destroyed in line with a November 1 deadline.
The work is being carried out under an ambitious UN resolution, cobbled together by the US and Russia, to eliminate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's entire chemical weapons arsenal.
"Our target dates are ambitious but they are achievable. We have the support of the international community," Countryman said.
The US said it wanted to "applaud the OPCW, the United Nations and the Joint Mission staff for their unprecedented work" on eliminating the weapons.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki added that "rendering this equipment inoperable is an important step in ensuring that chemical weapons are never used again by the Assad regime against the Syrian people".
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons spokesman Christian Chartier said all stocks of chemical weapons and agents had been placed under seals that are impossible to break.
"These are 1000 tonnes of chemical agents (which can be used to make weapons) and 290 tonnes of chemical weapons," Chartier said in The Hague.
The UN resolution was agreed by the US and Russia to avert military strikes on Syria after deadly chemical weapons attacks outside Damascus in August, which the West blamed on Assad's regime.
Share
