U.S.–Russia peace proposals on Syria

The U..S–Russia peace proposal on Syria refers to several American-Russian initiatives, including joint United States–Russia proposal issued in May 2013 to organize a conference for obtaining a political solution to the Syrian civil war, most likely to be mediated by Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations peace envoy for Syria.

Following the Ghouta chemical attacks in August 2013, which caused an international criticism of Syrian chemical arsenal, United States and Russia reached an agreement on Framework for Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons.

Geneva II
The Geneva II is a United Nations (UN) backed peace conference that took place in Geneva in January 2014 with the aim of stopping the Syrian civil war and organizing a transition period and post-war reconstruction.

In a previous Geneva meeting on 30 June 2012 (i.e. "Geneva I"), "major powers" agreed on the principle of a political transition, "but failed to stop the war". The key aim of Geneva II would be to get all parties to agree on the principle of a political solution, and then build on Kofi Annan's peace plan and the 30 June 2012 meeting.

Chemical arsenal disposal agreement
Following Ghouta chemical attacks in Syria on August 2013, the United States Congress began debating a proposed Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against the Government of Syria to Respond to Use of Chemical Weapons (S.J.Res 21), although votes on the resolution were indefinitely postponed amid opposition from many legislators and tentative agreement between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on an alternative proposal, under which Syria would declare and surrender its chemical weapons to be destroyed under international supervision.

Media reactions
The effectiveness of the negotiations and possible conference were questioned by Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who stated: "Washington is using the conference to buy time, but buy time for what? The country is melting down."