US President Barack Obama has welcomed a Russian proposal to put Syrian chemical weapons under international control, saying it could lead to a "breakthrough" on the crisis. He made the remarks in an interview with US broadcaster, ABC News. But, Obama says he will continue his efforts to persuade Congress to authorise a military strike.

Obama said, "I don't think we would have got to this point unless we had maintained a credible possibility of a military strike, and I don't think now is the time for us to let up on that. I want to make sure that that norm against use of chemical weapons is maintained. That's in our national security interests. If we can do that without a military strike, that is overwhelmingly my preference and now the key is can we see with a sense of urgency. Strikes may be less effective if I don't have congressional support, and if the American people don't recognise why we're doing this. So, I haven't made a final determination in terms of what next steps would be. My hope would be that I can persuade Congress that this is important. My hope is that I can persuade some of the American people that this is important. But ultimately, I understand why a lot of Americans are resistant. I think the polls are clear, I read them. This is not Iraq, this is not Afghanistan, this is not Libya. The goal would be to degrade the capacity of Assad to carry out these specific chemical weapons attacks."

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