Russia has no doubt Syrian chemical weapons to be eliminated by July – FM

Russia does not doubt that the term for eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons will be observed, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a briefing in Moscow. He added that Syrian government forces have deterred attacks by “militants” against chemical arms depots, according to Voice of Russia.

“Despite the existing difficulties related to the withdrawal of toxic agents, there are no grounds for disputing the term – the end of June or the beginning of July 2014,” the diplomat said.

Syrian government forces have deterred attacks by “militants” against chemical arms depots, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich added.

“The Syrian side reported that some of the chemical arms depots had been attacked. Fortunately, government forces managed to deter those attacks successfully,” he told a press briefing in Moscow.

Moscow does not want to dramatize the somewhat slowing down of exportations of chemical weapons from Syria, Lukashevich said. He said he was confident that the deadlines could not have been met “for objective reasons.”

“As known, the ground transportation of highly toxic chemicals continues amid the ongoing armed conflict in Syria and it is beset by many risks,” the diplomat said.

Moscow against politicization of humanitarian problems in Syria

Attempts being made by some countries to politicize humanitarian problems have a negative impact on the dialogue between the conflicting parties in Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

“The attempts being made by some countries to artificially politicize humanitarian issues, including through UN Security Council forums, are absolutely unacceptable and will have the most negative effect on a dialogue between the Syrian parties, the second round of which is planned for February 10 in Geneva,” Lukashevich said.

M.D