The Government welcomed the preliminary agreement on Syria between the US and Russia.

The two countries earlier today agreed on a framework for securing Syria's chemical weapons after the third day of intense negotiations in Geneva.

Some elements of the deal include a timetable and how Syria must comply - and that if Syria fails, they will seek a Security Council resolution that could authorise military action.

In a statement this afternoon, the Foreign Ministry said the Maltese Government was conscious of the fact that this was a preliminary agreement the details of which were still being discussed and agreed upon. However, it still felt that the agreement was an important diplomatic step with which international political powers got together on the case of Syria and showed that the road to a solution was first and foremost diplomatic.

Since the very beginning, the Maltese Government had said it was against military action and hoped that now that there was an agreement between the US and Syria, the Assad regime would cooperate so that there would not be a need for punitive measures to be taken in future.

This did not mean that if, in future, those responsible for the chemical disaster were found, they would not be brought to justice at the International Criminal Court.

The Government also hoped that this spirit of cooperation that developed between the big countries on the Syria case would be strengthened in future so that together, ideally through unanimously agreed resolutions within the United Nations Security council, a diplomatic solution that would lead to peace in Syria and the region would be found.