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Mandate of UN-OPCW mission in Syria can be reviewed — Russia’s UN envoy

However, he did not comment on whether Russia planned to prepare a resolution for the purpose

UN, October 27. /TASS/. The UN Security Council may extend and amend the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate chemical incidents in Syria, Russia’s UN envoy told reporters on Thursday.

"Possibly, we will eventually end up with this," Vasily Nebenzya said when asked about the possibility of revieweing the JIM mandate.

However, he did not comment on whether Russia planned to prepare a resolution for the purpose.

On October 24 Along with Russia, Bolivia voted against the US-initiated document. Kazakhstan and China abstained, whereas eleven countries, including the UK, US and France, backed the draft resolution., Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution extending the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism’s mandate in Syria for another year.

Before voting, Russia asked to postpone discussion of the matter until November 7 to see the mission’s report on the probe into the Khan Shaykhun incident of April 4. However, the proposal found no support among the majority of the Security Council members.

Nebenzya described Tuesday’s Security Council session as senseless, adding that any fruitful discussion on extending the JIM mandate will be possible only after the mission delivers its report.

Earlier this week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it planned to put forward its own proposals on how to make the investigation into Syrian chemical incidents "truly independent, unbiased and professional" after the JIM delivers its report.