Kerry: U.S. Won't 'Wait for Long' for Syria Arms Plan

The United States is waiting to see a Russian proposal to put Syria's chemical weapons stock under international control, but will not wait for long, top diplomat John Kerry said Tuesday.

And Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said while everyone was hopeful the move could be "a real solution to the crisis," he warned the threat of "credible, real" U.S. military action had to remain on the table.

Kerry, claiming U.S. ownership of the plan to rein in chemical weapons first floated Monday, said: "Yesterday, we challenged the regime to turn them over to the secure control of the international community so that they could be destroyed."

Such a move "would be the ultimate way to degrade and deter" the arsenal held by Syrian President Bashar Assad, he told the House Armed Services Committee.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had promised Kerry he would come up with a proposal to achieve the plan.

"We're waiting for that proposal. But we're not waiting for long," Kerry said.

He vowed that President Barack Obama -- who is due to address the nation later Tuesday -- "will take a hard look at it, but it has to be swift. It has to be real. It has to be verifiable," Kerry insisted.

And he warned it would be "exceedingly difficult."

Kerry added, however, that "nothing had changed" with respect to Obama's call for Congress to vote to approve a limited military strike on the Syrian regime, accused of using sarin gas in an attack near Damascus last month.

"We must be very clear-eyed and ensure that it is not a stalling tactic by Syria and its Russian patriots," Hagel said of the Russian proposal.

"The threat of a U.S. military action, the credible, real threat of U.S. military action, must continue as we are talking today," he insisted.

Earlier the White House said that the U.S. will engage allies on how serious Syria is about surrendering its chemical weapons, but stands by its drive to muster support for possible military action, the White House said Tuesday.

Spokesman Jay Carney spoke on MSNBC hours after Syria confirmed it had embraced a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons -- which the U.S. says it had never even acknowledged having -- under international supervision with an eye to their eventual destruction.

"We will engage and have been engaged in intense conversations with our friends and allies internationally about this process, about moving forward and testing the seriousness of the Syrians when it comes to the potential for them giving up their chemical weapons stockpile," Carney said.

He spoke a day after Obama, who had asked Congress for approval to attack Syria in retaliation for what the White House says was a devastating chemical weapons attack Aug. 21 against civilians, gave a cautious welcome to the weapons surrender idea.

The original goal had been to garner support for military action against Syria amid war weariness among every day people and lawmakers after decades of involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even though Syria now says it is willing to surrender its chemical weapons, Obama will still make the case for possible military action, Carney said.

"He'll be building support for calling on Congress as well as the American people to understand and support the action that he's proposed," Carney said.