Russia provided UN, OPCW facts about preparations for chemical provocation in Idlib - Lavrov
SOCHI. Aug 31 (Interfax) - There is no doubt that a provocation using chemical weapons is being prepared in Syria's Idlib, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"There is no doubt that such provocation is being prepared. In the UN and in The Hague, where the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is headquartered, we have provided specific facts received from various sources, and these facts coincide," Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with the foreign minister of Eritrea.
"And no one needs to be convinced that this is all real, because such stagings have occurred before," he said.
Such provocations occurred repeatedly in the past two years, he said.
Investigations into such incidents were conducted "remotely" and OPCW officials "were massively, openly and unceremoniously manipulated," he said.
"We know about that, so I find such behavior by the Western countries to an international organization unacceptable, and an overwhelming majority of states think the same," Lavrov said.