Int'l, Russian law forbids bringing foreign chemical weapons to Russia - expert
MOSCOW. Sept 19 (Interfax-AVN) - It is absolutely unrealistic speak about destroying Syrian chemical weapons on Russian territory because neither international nor Russian law permits this, well-known expert in chemical disarmament, chief research associate of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Professor Natalia Kalinina told Interfax-AVN on Thursday.
"We can not bring foreign chemical weapons into our country according to international and domestic law. In order to do so, it is necessary to first conclude a relevant international agreement and then to pass a law here in Russia," Kalinina said.
If one assumes that the decision could be made to bring some types of chemical weapons to Russian facilities for destruction, then a complicated social situation would emerge in the regions where the facilities are located, Kalinina said.
It can be supposed that the regions will be opposed to bringing in chemical weapons, Kalinina said. "So, possible difficulties are numerous in that regard," she said.
"Of course, the optimal and most logical situation would be to destroy the weapons onsite. Even the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Assad is joining, though he has not yet handed in Syria's ratification, stipulates that chemical weapons should be destroyed at their storage site," Kalinina said.