UN, October 28. /TASS/. Conclusions contained in the report of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on investigation of chemical attacks in Syria are unconvincing, have no legal force and can’t serve as a basis for making legal decisions, Russia’s envoy to the UN said Thursday.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the global organization Vitaly Churkin’s speech text was distributed by Russia’s permanent mission.
In the speech delivered during a closed meeting of the UN Security Council, he said the Russian side keeps attentively studying conclusions of the report.
"It can be said already now that in their majority, they are not substantiated by sufficient evidential basis, first of all material, are full of contradictions and therefore not convincing," Churkin said.
"We are proceeding from the assumption that the conclusions are not final, have no legal force and can’t serve as indictments for adoption of legal decisions," he said.
Churkin spoke for Damascus conducting "a full-fledged national investigation on JIM confirmed chemical incidents" in line with the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The UN Security Council on Thursday held a monthly closed meeting on the situation with the use of poisonous agents during the conflict in Syria, during which it discussed the final report of the JIM. UN and OPCW investigators accused government forces of three cases of using poisonous agents, and Islamic State terrorists in one.
Syria agreed to pass its chemical weapons to the international community for subsequent destruction in 2013 in the framework of a deal struck between Moscow and Washington. The deal was fixed by the UN Security Council’s resolution, which warned that in case anyone uses chemical weapons in Syria, measures will be taken.