LONDON, May 29. /TASS/. The United Kingdom calls for a special conference of the states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the British Foreign Office said in a statement.
"The world came together in 1997 to outlaw the development, stockpiling and use of these vile substances through the Chemical Weapons Convention. But in recent years we have seen chemical attacks by the Assad regime in Syria, by Daesh [the Arabic name of the Islamic State terror group outlawed in Russia - TASS]in Syria and Iraq, in Malaysia and even here in the UK in Salisbury," the statement reads, citing British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. "Today we have brought together 11 states to formally ask the Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to convene a special Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention," the statement says. "We call on all right-thinking states to come together next month to take action to reaffirm and defend the ban on chemical weapons, and to strengthen the Organization which we have entrusted with overseeing it," Johnson added.
"The special Conference must be held within 30 days of today’s letter. With 11 states already cosponsoring the call, the UK is confident that the OPCW will soon receive the 64 supportive responses needed for the conference to go ahead," the Foreign Office said.