In an interview given to Fox News in Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday confirmed his country’s commitment to rid itself of its chemical weapons stockpile and pledged to conform to the demands dictated by a deal now being negotiated at the UN Security Council.

Conducted by Fox’s foreign correspondent Greg Palkot and news contributor Dennis Kucinich, a former U.S. congressman and presidential candidate from Ohio, the interview with Assad found him unwilling to admit that the chemical weapons used in an attack last month were deployed by his forces.

“We have evidence that terrorist groups (have) used sarin gas,” Assad said in the interview. “The whole story (that the Syrian government used them) doesn’t even hold together. … We didn’t use any chemical weapons.”

Assad said that his country is now willing to destroy its stockpiles, but that doing so is both complicated and expensive.

“I think it is a very complicated technically and it needs a lot of money,” said Assad about the weapons, adding that it could cost as much as $1 billion to do so safely.

Asked whether he would consider handing over his stockpiles directly to the US government, Assad said: “It is very detrimental to the environment. If the American administration is ready to pay this money and take the responsibility of bringing toxic materials to the United States, why don’t they do it?”

A UN report released earlier this week found conclusive evidence that sarin gas was the chemical agent that killed hundreds of people in Ghouta on August 21st, but the report itself made no conclusions about who was reasonable for the attack.

However, in response to that report, the U.S., the British, and the French—key members of the Security Council—all claimed that the evidence presented in the report bolstered their claims that Assad forces were behind the attack.

Meanwhile, the Russian government—which has proven itself adept so fat at countering a U.S. push for military intervention in Syria’s civil war—continues to say there exists evidence that counters the dominant narrative being pushed by western nations.

Amidst Assad’s willingness to declare and give over his chemical weapons for destruction, the main sticking point at the UN remains whether or not the U.S. will be able to push through its continued demand that the “threat of military force” be attached to any agreed to resolution.