Diplomat Slams Decision on OPCW as Blow to Chemical Weapons Prohibition

MOSCOW- Russia does not consider the mechanism of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which will get an opportunity to identify those behind the use of chemical weapons, to be legitimate, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Thursday.

“Of course, we do not consider the work of the so-called attributive mechanism to be legitimate,” he said, Itar Tass reported.

 According to Ryabkov, Russia doubts that it will be possible to preserve the OPCW and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in their present form in the wake of a decision on setting up an OPCW mechanism, which will make it possible to determine those responsible for the use of chemical warfare agents.

“The consequences will be really dire,” he warned. “The prospects and the future of the CWC itself are becoming rather vague as a result.”

“We doubt the possibility of preserving the CWC and the OPCW in their present form, which has existed to date. However, a lot depends here on the practical behavior of the aforementioned group of countries (the US, the UK and France) and the top officials of the OPCW Technical Secretariat, which also took a cue from our opponents,” Ryabkov stressed.

“We have doubts about the possibility of preserving the CWC and the OPCW in their present form, which has existed to date. However, a lot depends here on the practical behavior of the aforementioned group of countries (the US, the UK and France) and the top officials of the OPCW Technical Secretariat who also took a cue from our opponents,” Ryabkov stressed.

On Wednesday, the OPCW adopted the British amendments to its mandate giving it accusatory functions. The UK delegation to the OPCW tweeted that the document had been adopted with 82 votes in favor and 24 against.

H.M