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UN Security Council may provisionally extend Syrian mission’s work — Russian envoy

Vasily Nebenzya told reporters that the move will give the sides more time to negotiate on the mission’s mandate
Russia’s UN envoy, Vasily Nebenzya Valery Sharifulin/TASS
Russia’s UN envoy, Vasily Nebenzya
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

UN, November 17. /TASS/. The UN Security Council may decide to provisionally extend the work of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate chemical incidents in Syria, Russia’s UN envoy said on Thursday.

Vasily Nebenzya told reporters that the move will give the sides more time to agree on a resolution regarding the mission’s mandate.

"I know that it is being discussed under the table that we need to provisionally extend the JIM and negotiate on how it would function in the future," he said.

When asked whether UN Security Council members will be able to reach consensus on the mission’s future, Nebenzya said that Russia "is always willing to compromise."

He added that the mandate can be extended even after it expires.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia vetoed the US-backed draft resolution on extending the mission’s mandate in its present form. The Russian document, introducing improvements to the mission’s work, failed to get the required number of votes.

Russia’s UN envoy warned that if the UN Security Council gets another draft resolution "similar to the one proposed by the United States, it also has no chance of being adopted."

"We have said this in the past and we are saying this now that if JIM continues its work, it should be a mechanism that would be truly independent, not an instrument for manipulation by those who are its true masters," he said.