The Russian Foreign Ministry welcomed the report of the Joint OPCW-UN mechanism to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria. As stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, the content of the report will be studied very carefully by the Russian side, they will analyze the conclusions reached by the experts, who plan to discuss it in the UN Security Council on August 30th. "However, we can already say that it is not a revelation for us that ISIS has chemical weapons and use them not only in Iraq, but also in Syria. The Russian side has repeatedly spoken and warned about this. Moreover, relevant Russian initiatives in the UN Security Council have been linked to this. Now these facts are confirmed in the corresponding report,’’ Zakharova said.
Moscow initially urged that all the cases of suspected use of chemical agents for military purposes in Syria become the subjects of a thorough and comprehensive independent international investigation. Unfortunately, the Russian partners have long gone from it, and the lost time has not given an opportunity to draw unambiguous conclusions and identify the perpetrators.
"Finally, the availability of these weapons among the anti-government forces, in this case ISIS, has been confirmed . All the facts presented in the report should be double-checked, it is necessary to study them. However, it is important not to approach them selectively and not to reach any conclusions until the picture is sufficiently clear,’’ Zakharova said.
She expressed hope that all the cases that have been reported will be investigated, and not just those where suspicions fall on the Syrian military: ‘’The allegations of the use of toxic substances are numerous in such cases, in the period between December 2015 and August 2016 there were 13 cases of the use of sarin, 12 cases of mustard gas and other toxic substances. Moreover, there have been 41 cases of use of chlorine, and 61 of chemical toxins. We need to investigate every case."
