Russia To Resist Attempts To Expand OPCW Powers

Russia’s envoy to the organisation, Alexander Shulgin has revealed that Moscow will fight attempts to expand the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) powers by giving it the right to attribute blame for chemical weapons attacks.

“As far as I understand, by November the OPCW director-general will submit recommendations on the implementation of the decision that was adopted.

“Let’s see what recommendations will be made when they appear. But if we are talking about the imposition of attributive function, on the promotion of attributive function in the OPCW, we will resist as hard as possible,” Shulgin told Sputnik.

He said the OPCW cannot be allowed to assign blame for chemical weapons attacks as this is an encroachment on UN Security Council (UNSC) rights.

“Any attributive functions in the OPCW, delegating the Technical Secretariat functions of identifying perpetrators behind the use of chemical weapons is a direct encroachment on the UN Security Council’s prerogative.

“The decision that was made in June has a framework character … For now, it is a sketch, it is shaky.

“Even the authors of the decision do not fully understand what they are calling for. Various hypotheses are being suggested,” Shulgin said, when asked if it was possible to somehow remedy the situation.

The envoy added that 82 countries sided with the UK on the expansion decision, while 24 voted against it, but the 24 in question included India and China, which account for a large proportion of the population of the Earth.

“So there is no overwhelming majority that the British are talking about … There are many African countries [against the decision], there are Latin American countries. And I think this is not over.

“The number of our supporters will keep growing,” Shulgin said.

Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow considered the decision to enlarge the OPCW mandate illegitimate, while UK Prime Minister Theresa May lauded it as an example of efficient cooperation among EU countries.