Top congressional Democrats and Republicans have said Russian President Vladimir Putin played an important role in resolving the Syrian crisis.
Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said that Putin helped deliver exactly what the United States wanted, which is to put an end to Assad's weapons of mass destruction.
His argument appeared to be supported by New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
According to Fox News, in the ensuing days, with Congress and the Americans showing limited support for a strike, Secretary of State John Kerry suggested that Syria should surrender its chemical weapons to the international community.
Putin embraced the idea, and Kerry agreed with Russia to a tentative deal to secure Assad's stockpile.
Texas Republican Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Russia has the greatest influence over Assad.
Michigan Republican Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the U.S. is 'being led by the nose by' Putin.
According to the report, however, it remains unclear whether Assad will sign the agreement, which requires the country to submit details of its chemical weapons stockpile within the next week and hand over all of the components of its programme by mid-2014.
