30 Aug 2018 12:32

Russian Foreign Ministry suggests that OPCW Technical Secretariat visit Syria, subsequently end inspections there

MOSCOW. Aug 30 (Interfax) - Moscow suggests that the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visit Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.

"The OPCW Technical Secretariat has reckoned it is its duty to inform [other sides] of its plans to carry out inspections at facilities of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center. The OPCW Technical Secretariat again says nothing in its report that this research center, along with other facilities, was fully destroyed on April 14 as a result of the missile strike delivered by the U.S., the United Kingdom, and France," Zakharova said at a press briefing on Thursday.

"We suggest that the Technical Secretariat use the Syrian government's repeated invitations to visit these now-defunct civilian facilities in order to see for itself on the spot the destruction caused as a result of that missile attack and eventually adopt a formal decision to terminate the inspections. After all, it is necessary to return to some real world," she said.

The OPCW confirmed that Damascus had fully disposed of its chemical weapons stockpiles, she said.

"We have taken note of the OPCW Technical Secretariat's latest monthly report 'Progress in the Elimination of the Syrian Chemical Weapons Program'. This factual document once again confirms the complete physical destruction of all of the 27 former chemical arms production facilities and also [the destruction]of all of the declared chemical agents that were removed from the territory of Syria in 2014," Zakharova said.