Alwaght-Russia says US-led Western countries seek to mislead the international community on Syria while seeking confrontation with the Arab state.
Major-General Igor Kirillov, Chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops, said on Friday that Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) missions in Syria violate the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
"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 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.
Douma incident
Russia is concerned that the western investigation into the April chemical weapons incident in Syria’s Douma will result in groundless accusations against Damascus, Kirillov said.
He pointed out that at the West’s behest, the White Helmets had acted in accordance with a scenario tested in Khan Shaykhun in 2017, staging a chemical weapons attack in Douma on April 7, 2018. Russian experts assessing information about the incident came to the conclusion that it had been orchestrated, the Russian general said.
Russia is trying to help the OPCW to overcome systemic failures and flaws and cares about the organization’s reputation, according to Kirillov.
Russia always seeks to use specific facts and arguments whereas "Western opponents usually avoid a substantive talk and reply with slogans," accusing Russia of undermining the OPCW’s prestige and reputation, the general told a joint news briefing of Russia’s Foreign and Defense Ministries.
