U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry rejected Syrian President Bashar Assad’s 30-day deadline for submitting chemical weapons data, saying words are not enough.

Kerry and his team began two days of meetings with their counterparts in Russia on Thursday.

“This is not a game,” Kerry said. “It has to be real. It has to be comprehensive. It has to be verifiable. It has to be credible. It has to be timely and implemented in a timely fashion. Finally, there ought to be consequences if it doesn’t take place.”

Below, more from the AP:

GENEVA — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is rejecting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s suggestion Thursday that he begin submitting data on his chemical weapons arsenal one month after signing an international chemical weapons ban.

Speaking at a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kerry noted that Assad said a 30-day lead time would be standard.

“There is nothing standard about this process,” Kerry said, because Assad has used his chemical weapons.

“The words of the Syrian regime in our judgment are simply not enough.”

Kerry cautioned that a U.S. military strike could occur if Assad doesn’t agree to dismantle his chemical arsenal properly.

Syria crisis: Geneva talks on chemical weapons enter second day

13 September 2013 Last updated at 05:43 ET
The US and Russian foreign ministers, John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov, are meeting for a second round of talks on how to secure Syria’s chemical weapons.

But their talks in Geneva with UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi began with the wider issue of peace in Syria.

Speaking afterwards, the three men said they had agreed to meet again later in the month to prepare for a long-delayed peace conference.

Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov are trying to reach agreement on the weapons’ issue.

The BBC’s Paul Adams in Geneva says it appears large disagreements still exist between the two governments.

Meanwhile, the Syrian rebels say President Bashar al-Assad’s decision to give up his chemical arsenal will not stop the killing.

Free Syrian Army spokesperson Louay Moqdad told the BBC government forces still have plenty of conventional weapons at their disposal and the move is an attempt to “buy time” with the help of the Russians.
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