Moscow: Vote on Expanding OPCW Mandate Heavy Blow to CWC

Local Editor

OPCW's members had earlier approved a UK-proposed draft motion expanding the organization's powers to attribute responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria, the UK delegation said.

Moscow doubts whether the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) could be preserved after an expansion of the organization's mandate, the Russian Foreign Ministry reports.

"Russia does not recognize the OPCW rights to determine the guilt of using chemical weapons," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

According to him, the consequences of the decision adopted a day earlier "can and will be very difficult."

"Yesterday's vote at the special session of the Conference of the States Parties of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is a very serious blow to the convention itself and to the OPCW. Contrary to all the arguments put forward by the Russian side and our like-minded people, despite the obvious logic that such a serious decision cannot be taken simply by voting with one or another composition, after all, the United Kingdom, the United States and the countries that joined them have, through coercive pressure, this decision, but the consequences will be severe," he said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team