Kerry hopes Crimea won't hit Russian cooperation on Syrian weapons

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about Ukraine during a town hall at the State Department in Washington March 18, 2014. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he hoped the Crimea crisis would not harm cooperation with Russia on international efforts to destroy Syria's chemical weapons.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government agreed to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal as part of a U.S.-Russian agreement negotiated after a chemical attack last August that killed hundreds of people around Damascus.