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Russia calls on US to stop ungrounded insinuations on chemical weapons use - ambassador

The USA remains the only state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention that has not yet fulfilled its obligations to destroy its chemical weapons stocks, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov stated

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

WASHINGTON, January 29. /TASS/. Moscow calls on Washington to complete as soon as possible its program on the elimination of its chemical weapons stocks and to stop making groundless insinuations in regard to Russia on this issue, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov stated on Friday.

The US Department of State stated earlier in its press release that Russia was allegedly developing its own military chemical program.

"We have noticed just another speculation by the State Department," Antonov said in a statement posted on the Russian Embassy’s official FaceBook account. "This is not the first time we see such groundless accusations against our country, without any actual proofs."

"We have repeatedly requested such information from our foreign partners and proposed to establish a professional dialogue in order to find the truth. However, our appeals remain unanswered," the ambassador continued.

"I would like to remind that Russia had completely eliminated its chemical weapons stocks. This fact is officially proved by the OPCW [Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons," he said. "At the same time, the USA remains the only state party to the CWC [Chemical Weapons Convention] that has not yet fulfilled its obligations to destroy its chemical weapons stocks."

"We call on Washington to finalize its chemical demilitarization and stop spreading baseless insinuations about our country," Antonov added.

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