US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes --
MR. RHODES: Well, if you look at the Syria chemical weapons issue, that's actually moving in very good pace, and we're about at the 50-percent milestone in terms of Syrian chemical weapons being removed from the country, taken into the custody of the international community. So on the chemical weapons issue we've seen continued cooperation. Russia has invested a lot in that project. Frankly, they have nothing to gain from seeing that project go off the rails, in large part because there are extremists in Syria that Russia doesn’t want to have -- gain access to chemical weapons who might pose a risk to them.
Under Russia's theory of the August 2013 chemical weapons attack, the Syrian rebels already have access to chemical weapons, since the Russian theory is that the rebels did it.
If the White House knows of an undisclosed internal Russian view that Bashar al-Assad did it, now would be a good time to say so.
MR. RHODES: Well, if you look at the Syria chemical weapons issue, that's actually moving in very good pace, and we're about at the 50-percent milestone in terms of Syrian chemical weapons being removed from the country, taken into the custody of the international community. So on the chemical weapons issue we've seen continued cooperation. Russia has invested a lot in that project. Frankly, they have nothing to gain from seeing that project go off the rails, in large part because there are extremists in Syria that Russia doesn’t want to have -- gain access to chemical weapons who might pose a risk to them.
Under Russia's theory of the August 2013 chemical weapons attack, the Syrian rebels already have access to chemical weapons, since the Russian theory is that the rebels did it.
If the White House knows of an undisclosed internal Russian view that Bashar al-Assad did it, now would be a good time to say so.