RIYADH, April 16. /TASS/. Russia does not accept use of chemical weapons, but before accusations are presented an independent investigation should be organized, Speaker of the Federation Council (parliament's upper house) Valentina Matviyenko said on Sunday.
"Russia is categorically against any cases of chemical weapons' use, but we believe, before accusing anyone, whatever party, it is necessary to have a thorough investigation by a specialized organization on prohibition of chemical weapons with involvement of independent experts from different countries, UN, with going to the site to confirm the very fact the chemical weapon was used, to see who is to blame and to undertake most severe measures of punishment," she told reporters after a meeting with speaker of Saudi Arabia's Majlis Al-Shura Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh.
"We already have the experience, when under artificial reasons of existing chemical weapons the Western coalition invaded Iraq, and we know what came out of it," she said. "We do not want unproved scenarios of the kind to repeat, and we do not want anyone to invent reasons for invading sovereign countries."
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The US airstrike on Syria was "the gravest violation of the international law," she added, "an act of aggression against a sovereign country."
Russia and the US initiated export from Syria and further elimination of chemical weapons, which the Syrian Armed Forces had, she continued. "This was done, and the US and the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons did confirm it - that all the chemical weapons had been exported from Syria."
"At the same time, we know that certain terrorist organizations are making chemical weapons and use them from time to time in different countries," the speaker said. "This is why on April 7 Russia demanded OPCW organized urgently an investigation into that case, searched for proofs of used chemical weapons and identified who used them - it is most important, so that nothing of the kind ever happened again."
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.