Russian Foreign Ministry: no steps taken to investigate chemical incident in Syria

No serious steps have been taken to investigate into the alleged chemical incident in Syria’s Khan Shaykhun, Director of the Armaments Non-Proliferation and Control Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Ulyanov said.

The text of his address to the special session of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), held in The Hague on April 19, has been published on the ministry’s website on Thursday, Russian news agency Tass reported.

"Reports (about the alleged chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun) started coming 15 days ago but no steps have yet been taken in order to investigate into this incident," he said. "In any case, we did not hear about representatives of the OPCW visiting the Khan Shaykhun area."

Ulyanov pointed out that all accusations against Damascus of using chemical weapons were groundless as they were based only on questionable data available on social media. At the same time, according to the Russian diplomat, representatives of some countries are acting as if the circumstances surrounding the incident, as well as those responsible, have already been established.

The alleged chemical weapons incident in the town of Khan Shaykhun, the Idlib Governorate, occurred on April 4. 

Russia is ready for consultations with the US before the OPCW vote on proposals on the incident.

"Before putting a draft up for vote, all possibilities for reaching a consensus should be exhausted," Ulyanov said. "We are ready for immediate intensive consultations for that purpose, including with the US delegation," he said.

"If our US partners are indeed interested in establishing the truth by carrying out a serious and prompt investigation, we have chances to reach an agreement," the diplomat said. "If not, there is almost no room to search for mutually acceptable solutions."

Source: MENA