Russia’s Defense Ministry: OPCW missions in Syria violate Chemical Weapons Convention

The OPCW’s missions in Syria violate the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, Major-General Igor Kirillov, Chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops, said on Friday.

"The remote nature of investigations as well as the collection, analysis and use of the documents obtained without specialists’ trips to the alleged sites of chemical weapons use, is in direct contradiction to the Convention’s provisions," Kirillov told reporters at a joint press briefing of the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russia’s Defense Ministry.

He noted that the West seeks to grant the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) the right to issue guilty verdicts against certain countries and their leaders.

"The United States, the UK, France and their allies are once again trying to mislead the global community and seek confrontation," he said. "Taking advantage of staged chemical weapons attacks, they accuse Syria of violating the Chemical Weapons Convention and Russia of complicity in that. At the same time, a campaign has been launched to turn the OPCW into a politicized institution with the right to issue guilty verdicts against certain countries and their leaders," Kirillov said.

He added that the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which conducts its investigations relying on the US and its allies, plays an unsavory role.
 (TASS)
 22/6/18
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