Russia, China boycott Security Council meeting on allegation about using chemical weapons in Syria

UNITED NATIONS, (ST)- Russia and China on Tuesday boycotted a closed-door videoconference with the UN Security Council on allegation about using chemical weapons in Syria.

AFP reported that Russia’ Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow had one request: “that the interaction is conducted in an open setting.”

“Regrettably, our Western partners, and their allies, insisted on holding this meeting behind closed doors in an informal setting despite the slogans of openness and transparency of the Security Council,” he said.

He added that “such an approach is unacceptable to us as it undermines the prerogatives of state parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.”

 A Security Council member told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity, that Russia and China have white screens.

According to the Russian news Agency Itar Tass, Nebenzya told a press conference with journalists via a video link-up that western countries have rejected Russia’s request to hold an open discussion on a report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) devoted to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.

“Despite our open criticism of the illicit nature of the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), we were not opposed to the Director-General briefing the Council on the report. Our only request was that this interaction is conducted in an open setting,” Nebenzya said.

Nebenzia noted that the claims against Damascus were unfounded and illogical. There is no evidence that the Syrian army had prepared a chemical attack, while terrorists mostly benefited from the accusations against Damascus, he stressed. There is hard evidence that this is absolute provocation, Nebenzya stressed.

In their turn, the envoys of European member-states of the UN Security Council (France, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Belgium and Germany) issued a joint statement on Tuesday supporting the OPCW report’s conclusions and the work of the IIT.

Washington has no right to ask for extending the arms embargo imposed on Iran

Concerning Iran, Nebenzya slammed the United States’ attempt to extend the arms embargo imposed on Iran, although US President Donald Trump has unilaterally withdrawn his country from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) .

The United States has no right to ask for extending the arms embargo because it is no longer a member in the nuclear deal concluded between Iran and the G5+Germany, said the Russian envoy, pointing out that he can’t see any point in re-imposing the arms embargo on Iran, which expires on October 18, 2020 according to the nuclear deal.

Hamda Mustafa