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Moscow places all responsibility for termination of OPCW-UN mission work in Syria on US

The Russian side is ready for consultations on finding a solution, the ministry stressed

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Russia is ready for consultations on the situation around the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN to investigate chemical attacks in Syria, but notes that all responsibility for the termination of the mechanism’s activities lies with the United States, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"All responsibility for the cessation of JIM’s activities lies with Washington and the UN Security Council member-countries, which supported it," the ministry stressed.

"The Russian side is ready for consultations on finding a way out of the situation. We proceed from the assumption that the resumption of the activities of the agency investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be justified and even necessary only if proper lessons were learned from the negative experience of the mechanism’s work and if it was reinforced substantially."

"In these circumstances, just extending the JIM’s mandate, as if everything was going on without a hitch in its work, would be inadmissible. Therefore, Russia had no choice but to veto the US draft," the statement said.