The US claims that Russia allegedly assisted the Syrian authorities in the incident with the use of chlorine in the city of Douma are unacceptable. This is stated in the comments of the Russian Foreign Ministry, published on the Agency's website in connection with the publication of the "signal" version of the report of the US State Department on compliance with international treaties and agreements in the field of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation.
"Allegations of Russian "assistance" to the Syrian authorities in connection with the chlorine incident in the city of Douma on April 7, 2018, are unacceptable. A number of such crimes were committed by the externally sponsored Syrian armed opposition and pseudo - humanitarian NGOs affiliated with it, such as the notorious "White helmets", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed.
The purpose of such steps, as stressed in the Russian Foreign Ministry, is not hidden – "discrediting the legitimate government of Syria and provoking attacks by the United States and its allies on a sovereign state in violation of the UN Charter and generally recognized norms of international law."
At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the State Department report reproduces "absolutely unsubstantiated accusations against Russia of violating the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and hiding information from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons about facilities for the production, development and storage of chemical weapons."
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