The Syrian government has reportedly accepted a Russian proposal to surrender its chemical weapons.

On Tuesday, facing the threat of a U.S. military strike, Syria’s foreign minister announced that the Syrian government would relinquish its chemical weapons to international control to avoid a military conflict with the United States.

After a meeting in Moscow, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said that the Syrian government had agreed to the Russian proposal in order to “derail the U.S. aggression.

On Monday President Obama had said that he would “absolutely” abandon his plans for a punitive strike if Syrian President Bashar Assad handed over the weapons.

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