Alexander Shulgin noted that Russia intends to reject accusations of provocations using chemical weaponsThe HAGUE, March 13.
/tass/. The Syrian chemical dossier and the possibility of using chemical weapons in Ukraine will be the main topics of this week's session of the OPCW Executive Council. This was reported to TASS on Monday by the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the organization Alexander Shulgin.
"We expect that the upcoming March 14-17 session of the executive council will be highly politicized, because Western countries, led by the United States, will undoubtedly try to raise the topic of Syria, based on the report of the Investigation and Identification Group (GRI)," he said. - Without any questions, the Russian delegation will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Syrian brothers to protect the truth and urge Western countries to treat the OPCW primarily as a technical organization. We are against further politicization."
"We also expect that the Ukrainian topic will be raised," the permanent representative added. "And almost certainly our opponents will promote the idea of possible provocations with the use of chemical weapons by Russia." Russia, Shulgin added, intends to reject these accusations.
According to the permanent representative, in reality the situation is absolutely the opposite, it is the Americans who are trying to organize provocations in Ukraine using chemical weapons and then lay the blame for them on Russia. In particular, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is aware of the delivery to Kramatorsk of boxes marked BZ (psychotropic toxic substance). "These boxes were unloaded by employees of the secret services of Ukraine and delivered to the contact line by American armored vehicles," the diplomat noted. - And all this is accompanied by the ongoing activities of the United States to supply the Ukrainian side with various kinds of antidotes and special protective equipment. In general, the situation is of concern."
On January 27, the OPCW published its third report claiming that the Syrian Air Force was responsible for an incident involving the use of toxic substances in the city of Douma near Damascus in April 2018. On Monday, the permanent missions of the Russian Federation and Syria to the OPCW held a briefing for members of the organization, during which attention was drawn to inconsistencies that cast doubt on the conclusions contained in the report. In particular, OPCW expert Ian Henderson stated back in 2020 that it was highly likely that both cylinders were placed manually at the site of the attack, and not dropped from the air, but his conclusions were not taken into account. The document also did not reflect the testimony of witnesses speaking in favor of the version of Russia and Syria about the staged nature of the incident.
