Although Syria may be more receptive to Russian involvement, Moscow (along with the United States) has repeatedly missed the deadlines under the convention for the destruction of its own chemical arsenal and is unlikely to complete the task before late 2015.

Normally, dismantlement is done within a country, and purpose-built facilities are constructed near the stockpile to minimize the transportation of dangerous chemical agents. These facilities can take years to construct, and once operational, the destruction process can also take a considerable amount of time – likely many months to dismantle a relatively small arsenal, depending on the agents involved. Any transportation of the agents outside the country would also pose significant security and environmental risks.

Given the unstable security situation in Syria, it would be very difficult to undertake verifiable chemical weapons demilitarization within the country at present. Notably, Libya’s destruction of its declared stock of sulfur mustard was delayed for roughly two years from early 2011 largely due to the security situation in the country at that time.