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Russia to insist at OPCW, UN on sending inspectors to Syria

"We have shared with the Qatari counterparts the Russian vision on the situation," Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

MOSCOW, April 15. /TASS/. Russia will insist not only at the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapon (OPCW), but also at the UN on urgent sending of inspectors for investigation into the incident with alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday after a meeting with Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.

"We consider it absolutely necessary to have thorough, objective and unbiased professional investigation," he said. "We shall both at OPCW in New York and at the UN insist on urgent sending of inspectors both to the side of the accident and to the (Shairat - TASS) aerodrome, where, as Western experts claim, shells were filled with chemical substances."

"We have shared with the Qatari counterparts the Russian vision on the situation," Lavrov said.

The Russian foreign minister told reporters the parties had discussed key problems in the Middle East and Northern Africa, including the situation in Syria, Libya, Yemen, the Middle East settlement, including the Palestinian problem.

"As for Syria, our common position is the necessary overwhelming ceasefire between the government and armed opposition, further anti-terrorist fight against the Islamic State and Habhat al-Nusra (terrorist groups outlawed in Russia - TASS), as well as acceleration of this crisis’ settlement on the basis of the UN SC resolution," the Russian minister said.

According to data of the Russian Defense Ministry, Syrian warplanes delivered an air strike on April 4 that hit workshops where terrorists were producing munitions with chemical agents supplied to Iraq and used in Aleppo.

However, Washington concluded that Damascus had used chemical weapons. As a result, the US military fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on the military aerodrome in the province of Homs, from which, as Washington believed, a chemical attack had allegedly started. The missile strike killed 10 people.