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Conflict in Syria

US reports of OPCW experts denied entry to Eastern Ghouta were lies, stresses Lavrov

The Russian top diplomat comments on statements that Damascus has denied entry to Eastern Ghouta for experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

© Sergey Savostianov/TASS

MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. US statements that Damascus has denied entry to Eastern Ghouta for experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are far from reality, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday at an annual Assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.

"It is not true. We had been following up the situation literally minute by minute. The Syrian government was ready to issue visas immediately on the border, without any additional delay. When the experts had left Beirut, they would have received visas at the Syrian border," he said.

"That was officially confirmed. The OPCW is aware of that, and if the OPCW knows, the US cannot but know," Lavrov said.

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