Syria’s chemical weapons effectively implemented -Lavrov

The Geneva accords on Syria’s chemical weapons are being effectively implemented despite attempts to disrupt them, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday after talks with his Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos.

“The agreements on Syria’s chemical disarmament are being implemented very effectively, everyone acknowledges that,” he said. “We hope there will be no provocations although attempts are being made to disrupt this process.”

Lavrov urged all who can influence the situation “to prevent the collapse of the crucial process of eliminating a whole arsenal of weapons of mass destruction”.

Geneva-2 international conference

“As regards Geneva-2, the situation is somewhat more complicated because there have already been open objections to that conference initiated by Russia and the United States, objections not only from various Syrian factions but also from the capitals of some neighboring and not only neighboring states,” Lavrov told a news conference in Athens on Wednesday.

They are making no attempt to conceal that their negative attitude to the Russian-American initiative stems from Washington’s refusal to bomb Syria, he said.

“In other words, those who sought “regime change” and helped voluntarily or involuntarily to create an extremist state there are now unable to hide their emotions,” Lavrov said.

He said it surprised him that “Western capitals are reacting fairly weakly to such arrogant statements”.

“Now that the Russian-American initiative to convene a conference on the practical implementation of the Geneva Communique is moving over to the practical stage, some of those who gave verbal assurances of their support are beginning to show their real attitude to it,” Lavrov said.

Most western leaders knew they were tapped by US – Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believes most of the key world political leaders were aware of being tapped by US special services, the Voice of Russia correspondent Ksenya Melnikova reports.

“I find it a little bit boring to comment on the issue. I am sure that everyone knew or at least suspected. And all that fuss being made about that now is because the things that normally aren’t said in public, have been said openly,” Lavrov told reporters in Athens when asked about the Russian leaders’ attitude to reports that many world leaders had been wiretapped.

“Frankly, I take it philosophically, though I do understand all the slyness of the phrase ‘we didn’t do anything that others didn’t do”, Lavrov said, commenting on remarks by US officials on the matter, according to Voice of Russia, Interfax. 

M.D