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Conflict in Syria

Russian, Syrian diplomats discuss chemical incidents

Russia's deputy foreign minister held talks with the Syrian ambassador in Moscow on August 17

MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov met on Thursday with Syrian Ambassador in Moscow Riyad Haddad to discuss bilateral cooperation on the Syrian ‘chemical weapons dossier’, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Some other issues of mutual interest were considered as well," the ministry said.

Read also

Syrian army finds UK and US chemical agents at depots captured from terrorists

First media reports about the use of chemical weapons in Syria in the suburbs of Damascus came on August 21, 2013. The Syrian authorities and the opposition denied accusations of a chemical attack, blaming each other. France and the US, supported by some Arab states, first of all Saudi Arabia, were seriously considering strikes on Syria.

However, at a session of the UN Security Council on August 29, 2013, Russia and China vetoed a corresponding draft resolution.

Syria agreed in September 2013 to place its chemical weapons at the disposal of the international community for their subsequent liquidation as part of a deal concluded between Moscow and Washington. The deal was preceded by a gas attack in the suburbs of Damascus, which killed from 280 to 1,700 people, according to various data.

On November 15, the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) approved a detailed plan for the destruction of chemical weapons. In August 2015, the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism was established to look into incidents of chemical weapons use.

On January 4, 2016, the OPCW confirmed that the process of destroying chemical weapons declared by the Syrian government was completed.

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Foreign policy Syrian conflict

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