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Russia satisfied with consensus on Novichok chemicals within OPCW — diplomat

Russia's envoy to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin said that "for the first time since the founding of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the lists are complemented with new deadly chemicals"

© EPA-EFE/BART MAAT

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THE HAGUE, November 28. /TASS/. The decision to complement the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) lists of prohibited substances with new chemicals known under the reporting name Novichok represents a positive development, Russia's Permanent Representative to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin told a press conference on Thursday.

"For the first time since the founding of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the lists are complemented with new deadly chemicals," Shulgin said. "Two other groups of chemicals were added, in addition to the two groups presented by the Western Troika (Canada, the Netherlands, the US) and known as Novichok chemicals in the West. One group includes a chemical that was developed and studied in NATO's secret laboratories. Another group includes several hundred chemicals patented in the US in the 1970s-1980s. Those chemicals were supposed to be declared back then, but this was not done," he added.

"The development of the situation with lists is a positive thing," Shulgin noted. "Russia and the US finally demonstrated that our delegations can still reach agreements," he concluded.

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