DHAKA: A patriotic Russian group on Tuesday called for president Vladimir Putin to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his Syria diplomacy, claiming he was more deserving of the award than 2009’s laureate, United States president Barack Obama.

A group that lists senior Russian officials among its members announced at a news conference that it had written to the Nobel prize committee backing Putin for the prize awarded to Obama in 2009.

The group says Putin deserves the honour for his efforts in brokering an agreement for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons under international control, a plan the group says helped avert a ‘new world war’.

‘The letter to the Nobel committee was sent September 16 and received September 20,’ said the group’s leader Georgy Trapeznikov, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 2006 HRS, OCT 01, 2013
RoR/GCP