Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations announced on Thursday that Syria has become a full member of the international treaty prohibiting chemical weapons

Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations announced on Thursday that Syria has become a full member of the international treaty prohibiting chemical weapons.

"Legally speaking Syria has become, starting today, a full member of the (Chemical Weapons) Convention," Reuters quoted Bashar al-Jaafari as saying to reporters in New York after submitting relevant documents to the United Nations.

The United Nations confirmed on Thursday that it has received documents from Syria on joining the Chemical Weapons Convention.

"In the past few hours we have received a document from the government of Syria that is being translated, which is to be an accession document concerning the Chemical Weapons Convention," UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.

Jaafari made the announcement as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry began a crucial two-day meeting on Moscow’s proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control.

"The chemical weapons in Syria are a mere deterrence against the Israeli nuclear arsenal," Jaafari noted.

"It's a deterrent weapon and now the time has come for the Syrian government to join the (convention) as a gesture to show our willingness to be against all weapons of mass destruction," he said.