Moscow Urges Verifying Reports on Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria

MOSCOW- Russian Foreign Ministry calls for verifying reports on use of chemical weapons in Syria and stopping speculations on the issue, according to the Voice of Russia.

 “Now it is necessary to stop speculating on the issue and to verify authenticity of reports about the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria, the modalities of which shall be agreed between Damascus and the UN Secretariat,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

 US incorrectly interprets real situation over investigation in Syria

 Russian Foreign Ministry official Alexander Lukashevich said on Saturday that the United States incorrectly interprets the real state of affairs over the international investigation into possible chemical weapons use in Syria.

Lukashevich was commenting on the recent State Department statement that Russia allegedly blocked the work of the U.N. Security Council to give access for a U.N. mission of experts to Syria for an investigation over the reports about use of chemical weapons in the country.

“The authors of assessments of such a kind ignore or deliberately distort the situation,” Lukashevich noted.

UN chief hands over Russian lab results on Syria to UN chemical experts

The results of Russia’s analysis of evidence relating to the use of chemical weapons in Syria were handed over to a team of experts on Friday by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a UN spokesman said, According to Russia Today.

The team’s leader met with Ban earlier this week. Among other things, the two discussed the work of the Russian team of chemical experts.

On July 9, Russian Special Representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin handed over Moscow’s lab results to Ban. According to Moscow, the results prove that it was the armed groups- not the Syrian government – that used sarin gas in a chemical attack in Aleppo last March.

One of the arguments Churkin has put forth is that unlike other lab results provided by Western specialists, the ones handed over by Russia were gathered by specialists at the scene of impact, instead of being handed over by a third party.

H. Mustafa