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US turns OPCW into its tool against ‘undesirable states’ - Russian Embassy

Russian diplomats called on Washington against playing the "anti-Russian card"

WASHINGTON, July 8. /TASS/. The United States is turning the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into its own tool against undesirable states and trying to play the anti-Russian card to cover up its own delayed destruction of chemical weapons, the Russian Embassy in the United States said in a statement on Saturday.

"Again, The Russian Federation has been accused of allegedly possessing an undeclared stock of chemical warfare agents," the statement reads. "Apparently, Washington proceeds from the fact that in such a context the obviously belated fulfillment by the United States of its international obligations will look worthy."

"In this regard, we would like to remind about the complete and early destruction of the Russian chemical arsenal back in 2017," according to the Russian Embassy. "It was confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)."

Russian diplomats called on Washington against playing the "anti-Russian card" and to stop turning the OPCW into a weapon against "undesirable states."

"Instead of playing the anti-Russian card we recommend the U.S. Side, not in words, but in deeds, to prove its adherence to the proclaimed good intentions," the statement from the Russian Embassy reads. "Namely, to stop politicizing discussions within the OPCW, and not to turn this Organization from an international instrument of chemical disarmament into a weapon against the states which Washington deems undesirable."

The Russian Embassy recalled that Washington's decision to provide the Ukrainian military with cluster munitions was inconsistent with American calls to rid the world of the horrors of the use of lethal weapons.

"The decision to supply Kiev with cluster munitions shatters the pseudo-humanist appeals of the United States about the need to rid mankind of the horrors of lethal weapons. The U.S. authorities simply could not care less about the objections of human rights activists and all sane people who are concerned about the prospect of large-scale civilian casualties," the statement added.

US President Joe Biden announced on Friday said the United States had completed the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile.

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