UN, April 12. /TASS/. The UN Security Council will vote Wednesday on a draft resolution, prepared by the United Kingdom, the United States and France and concerning the purported chemical attack in Syria.
According to Russia’s permanent mission to the UN, the vote is scheduled for 22:00 Moscow time.
"The vote on the trio’s updated draft is due at 15:00 (local time)," embassy spokesman Fedor Strzhizhovsky said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Britain, the US and France have circulated in the UN Security Council a revised version of their draft resolution on the investigation into the alleged chemical attack in Syria’s Khan Sheikhoun on April 4.
The resolution is a slightly revised version of previous similar document, which condemns the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The document also demands that Damascus hand over all information on flights on the day of the incident to the Joint Investigative Mechanism of the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and provide access to the military bases from which strikes against Khan Sheikhoun could be carried out. The resolution also threatens Syria with sanctions and the use of military force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
Last week, Russia described the document as "inadmissible" and prepared its own resolution, which envisages a full-scale investigation on the ground by UN and OPCW experts.
On April 4, Reuters cited the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying that an airstrike on Syrian’s city of Khan Sheikhoun, in the Idlib province, had killed 58 people, including 11 children. Reuters alleged that the chemical attack could have been carried out by "Syrian government or Russian jets." The Russian and Syrian militaries denied their involvement in the reported attack.
Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN Secretary General, has earlier said it was too early to make any conclusions on whether the events in Khan Sheikhoun could be described as a chemical attack.