THE HAGUE, November 21. /TASS/. Russia believes it is essential to show realism with respect to Syria’s chemical dossier and take into account the fact that Damascus cannot answer some questions after so many years, head of the Russian delegation, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Georgy Kalamanov, said on Wednesday at the Fourth Review Conference of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
"It is perfectly clear that, amid the raging war, the elimination of the Syrian military-chemical potential under strict international control was an important milestone in the organization’s history," he noted. "This result would not have been possible without cooperation between all the the state parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), political will and the Syrian authorities’ dedicated efforts. At the same time, during the work on the Syrian track, systemic flaws related to cooperation between the OPCWs Technical Secretariat and Damascus on a number of issues emerged."
"We are very much concerned about the fact that the more information the Syrian government sends to the OPCW, the more questions are posed. We must realize that, after so many years and amid the ongoing armed conflict, Damascus is unable to respond to most of the enquiries."
"We believe it is essential to show realism here, because this state of affairs cannot last indefinitely," he said. "We believe the OPCW Technical Secretariat and Syria need to review the remaining issues. We note with satisfaction that both sides have shown mutual desire to tackle them. However, it is necessary to abandon politically motivated claims relying solely on expert analysis.".