Attempts to put pressure on Syria at the upcoming Conference of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in April could jeopardize Damascus' cooperation with this international structure. Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia said this when speaking at a meeting of the world organization's Security Council.
"The line aimed at "dodging" Syria may destroy any motivation for it to cooperate with the OPCW at all. This country lives under the sword of Damocles of accusations of violations of the CWC, this time in the form of "unresolved issues" on the original declaration. Our Western colleagues are trying to translate it into a punitive decision of the Conference of the States Parties (CSP) of the OPCW to defeat Syria's rights," he said.
Nebenzia recalled that in July the OPCW Executive Council demanded Damascus, as part of the so-called initial declaration, to dosage the chemical weapons that were allegedly used in the Al-Lataminah settlement in March 2017. The diplomat stressed that Russia had already criticized the report on the incident, as well as the Investigation and Identification Team that prepared it.
The Russian Permanent Representative to the UN also pointed out that Damascus has faithfully fulfilled all its obligations in the dialogue with the OPCW and the UN on chemical weapons, despite the pressure and numerous accusations against it, including accepting all inspection missions of the organization. "We hope that member states will take a critical approach to what is happening and will not participate in the staging with the anti-Syrian draft decision at the April session of the Conference of the States Parties, which poses a real threat to the credibility of the OPCW, and with it, the UNSC, responsible for the implementation of resolution 2118," Nebenzia summarized.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Zuma \ TASS
Based on materials from TASS