UN, January 8. . Russia calls on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to abandon its politicized approach and professionally complete its work on the Syrian issue. This was announced by Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, Mr. Dmitry Chumkov, at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Syria's “chemical dossier”.
The diplomat emphasized that the closure of the file was hindered by the OPCW technical secretariat's inability to act objectively. “For more than ten years, he has politicized the issue and artificially delayed the process, keeping it going as a lever to pressure the Syrian regime,” he noted.
According to the Russian representative, Moscow supports the quick resolution of issues related to Syria's initial declaration under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Chumkov added that without correcting the methodology of the OPCW technical secretariat, even the constructive attitude of the Syrian transitional government will not help “turn this page.”
“We also call on our colleagues at the Security Council, when developing approaches to discussing this issue, to take full account of the peculiarities of the internal political situation in Syria, which today faces a series of existential problems: the need to protect the sovereignty, independence, tertiary integrity and unity of the Syrian Arab Republic,” the diplomat concluded.
