Russia Accuses OPCW of Delaying Expert Visit to Avoid Confirming Ukrainian Chemical Weapons Use

BEIJING, September 4. /TASS/. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is in no haste to send its experts to Russia for fear that it may eventually receive confirmation from the Russian side of the use of chemical weapons in the conflict zone by Ukraine, Russian Permanent Representative to the OPCW Vladimir Tarabrin told TASS.

"Of course, they will inevitably receive data confirming the use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainians. And this would be, so to say, not very convenient for the time being. Nor would it be very well received by Western countries which are certainly putting very much pressure on the Technical Secretariat," said the Russian diplomat, currently on a visit to China.

On July 21, Tarabrin told TASS in an interview that Moscow had sent an official request for a visit by a technical mission to provide assistance in investigating the use of chemical weapons in the zone of the Ukrainian conflict. According to the diplomat, such a possibility is provided for by Article VIII of the CWC, which concerns a request for technical assistance from the organization in the event of suspicion of chemical weapons use.