OPCW describes its delegation’s visit to Damascus as productive

THE HAGUE, Netherlands—Feb.8, (ST)— At the invitation of the Syrian caretaker Foreign Minister, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Fernando Arias, accompanied by a high-level delegation from the OPCW, visited Damascus to meet with Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa and caretaker Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani.

The meetings were long, productive and very open, with an in-depth exchange of information, which will serve as a basis to reach tangible results and break the stalemate that has lasted for over eleven years.

The visit marked a first step towards re-establishing a direct working relationship between the OPCW Technical Secretariat and Syria, following eleven years of stagnation and lack of progress with the former authorities. In their meeting, both sides discussed Syria’s obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the role and mandate of the OPCW, and the type of support the Technical Secretariat can provide to the Syrian caretaker authorities in eliminating the remnants of Syria’s chemical weapons programme.

“This visit marks a reset. After eleven years of obstruction by the previous authorities, the Syrian caretaker authorities have a chance to turn the page and meet Syria’s obligations under the Convention,” said Director-General Arias.

“My presence in Damascus reflects the OPCW’s commitment to rebuilding a relationship based on mutual trust and transparency,” he underlined. “For over a decade, Syria’s chemical weapons dossier was at a deadlock. Today, we must seize this opportunity together and break that impasse for the good of the Syrian people and the international community.”

Read more:

https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2025/02/opcw-director-general-visits-syria-meets-syrian-caretaker-authorities

Source: OPCW Website