Russia’s permanent mission to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW] voiced criticism over the interpretations of the OPCW report on Skripals case by some participants in the organization’s special conference underway in the Netherlands, dismissing these interpretations as arbitrary.
The mission placed its commentary on the situation at the official homepage of the Russian embassy in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
“We would like to pay attention to the arbitrary interpretations of the results of the visit to the UK that the OPCW Technical Secretariat organized under Clause 38 or Article VIII of the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons,” the mission said.
Russia informed the Secretariat on several hundreds of toxic chemicals that it believed were to be studied.
“No less than a hundred substances developed, to one or another degree, in Western countries fall into the so-called Novichok class,” the mission indicated. “The list of developer countries mentions the UK, the US, the Czech Republic, and others. This means that the toxic chemicals, which the West puts into the Novichok category, are the exclusive prerogative of Western countries.”
The commentary described the UK’s allegations about the Russian origin of substance Sergei and Yulia Skripal were exposed to in Salisbury as fully unsubstantiated and contradicting reality.
“We call on all the countries concerned to scrutinize the documents so as to be able to make correct conclusions and pass appropriate decisions,” the mission said.
On April 12, the OPCW published conclusions on investigation of the incident in Salisbury that involved the former Russian military intelligence officer and British spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. The open section of the report identified the type of the substance but did not name it.
Although the OPCW did not publish the full version of the report, the UK came up with the claims the organization had confirmed the Skripals’ exposure to a Novichok class agent.
On Tuesday, the UK circulated a draft resolution on expansion of the OPCW powers that envisions the power to determine the parties guilty of use of chemical weapons. The heads of the Russian, Iranian and Syrian delegations demanded a discussion on the issue and postponement of voting on it for 24 hours.