Russia Dismisses Western Abuse of Syria’s So-called Chemical File

By Staff, Agencies

Russia ripped Western countries for their continued use of Syria's so-called ‘chemical file’ to exert more pressure on the war-ravaged Arab country, despite the fact that the Damascus government has completely and irreversibly dismantled its chemical weapons production facilities and stockpiles.

“Syria joined the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW] voluntarily, with encouragement from Russia, implemented basic conditions under the Chemical Weapons Convention and got rid of its entire chemical weapons arsenal,” Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said at a virtual session of the UN Security Council on Thursday.

He added, “In 2014, Syria completely abandoned its chemical weapons program, destroyed all its chemical warfare stockpiles and destroyed its chemical-weapons production facilities – something confirmed by the OPCW more than once.”

The Russian diplomat noted that some countries are repeatedly using the chemical weapons “card” as a tool to pressure the Syrian government, using grave accusations “backed up by unconvincing evidence like video footage on social media or testimony of knowingly biased witnesses, or falsified facts.”

At the same time, he noted that, “they reject the counter-arguments provided not only by Russia and Syria, but also by independent experts and organizations, and do not give any coherent explanation as to why they do so.”

Nebenzya went on to say that the OPCW and its technical experts have become the “transmitter of anti-Syrian claims of the Western countries."

“The root cause of the problem is that our Western colleagues have long turned Syria’s chemical file into a means of punishment of the unwanted authorities in Damascus,” the Russian ambassador said.

“Therefore, attempts to establish the connection between the file and actual use or non-use of chemical weapons are absolutely senseless,” Nebenzya pointed out.