Moscow to offer $2m for eliminating chemical weapons in Syria

Russian deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that his country will offer 2 million USD to support the international efforts on eliminating the chemical weapons in Syria. "Russia fulfilled a great contribution to those efforts as the Russian military transport planes handed over 75 trucks to Syria to help secure the chemical weapons in Syria to outside the country," RIA Novosti quoted Ryabkov as saying in an interview with Russia Voice radio. He added that Moscow will host a meeting next Friday which gathers experts from Syria, the US, the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The elimination of the chemical weapons in Syria will be done on two phases, the fist is to get rid of the most dangerous weapons in December and then destroying them during next April. Russia, Egypt discuss preparations for Geneva 2 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Egyptian counterpart Nabil Fehmi discussed in a phone call bilateral relations and preparations for the international conference on Syria "Geneva 2." The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two ministers exchanged viewpoints on a number of regional issues, including the crisis in Syria and preparations for Geneva 2.