21 Mar 2014 15:41

Damascus's "military-chemical potential" de facto brought down to nil - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) - Syria's chemical weapons potential has been effectively brought down to nothing, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Interfax on Friday.

"As of today, Damascus has already de facto brought down its military-chemical potential virtually to nil: the chemical weapons production capacities, special-purpose mixing and assembly equipment, as well as all delivery means have been destroyed," the spokesman said.

"The only ready-to-use toxic agent - yperite (mustard gas) - that was in Damascus's possession has already been taken out of the country in full," he said.

Syria remains committed to the obligations it assumed under the Chemical Weapons Convention, he said.

"The amount of work that has been accomplished by Damascus in less than five months amid the most complex conditions of its internal conflict and an acute shortage of material and financial resources at the initial stage stands no comparison with what other states, for example Libya, have done in the sphere of chemical disarmament over the years," he said.