As the chemical weapons deal was approved, the United Nations also announced plans for a long-delayed international Syria peace conference in Geneva next month. Speaking to Italian television, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he will comply with the U.N.’s requirements.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: “We joined the international agreement for preventing the use and acquirement of chemical weapons before that resolution came to light. The main part of the Russian initiative based on our will to do so. So, it’s not about the resolution, actually; it’s about our will. Of course, we have the will because in 2003 we had proposed in the United Nations Security Council to get rid of those weapons in the Middle East, to have a chemical weapon-free zone in the Middle East. So, of course, we have to comply. This is our history, to comply with every treaty we sign.”

In one of the latest violent incidents in Syria, at least 16 people were killed on Sunday when an air strike hit a high school in the rebel-controlled city of Raqqa. Most of the victims were students.