That leaves one scenario in which ground troops will not be needed to secure and destroy Assad’s chemical stockpiles: a ceasefire. A halt to the fighting between the various rebel factions and the various pro-Assad militias and army would give the international community the time and space to identify and dismantle the chemical stockpiles safely.

Unfortunately a ceasefire is even less likely than deploying thousands of troops. Even if Russia could get the Assad regime to agree to one — it never has — the many pro-government militias that have sprung up near cities like Aleppo probably wouldn’t obey it anyhow. Ceasefires have a bad history in Syria of falling apart in a bloody mess.

Lastly, there is more than one side to the Syrian war. The opposition gets a vote, such as it were, and at least one major group has already publicly opposed the current Russian plan.