The last-minute agreement between Russia and the United States to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control gives the West, which had run out of good options, a second chance to reach what always should have been its strategic goal: peace in Syria and an end to its people's suffering.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took advantage of Western leaders' failure to formulate a clear central objective.

Did they hope to end Syria's civil war by forcing a military stalemate, or to bring about the demise of President Bashar Assad's regime?