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Syrian Douma incident should be probed for successful work at OPCW, says envoy

Russia’s Ambassador the Netherlands and Russia’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin added that an international dialogue could be built at the OPCW only after conclusions are received

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. Successful work at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will be impossible until trustworthy circumstances behind the incident in the Syrian town of Douma in April 2018 are established, Russia’s Ambassador the Netherlands and Russia’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin said in a televised interview with Rossiya-24 news channel.

"We won’t be able to work successfully at the OPCW in the future unless we understand what in fact happened in the Damascus suburb of Douma in April 2018," he said.

Shulgin added that an international dialogue could be built at the OPCW only after conclusions are received.

"Only by turning this sad page over, which does credit to neither Americans nor their coalition, can we expect to build an optimal international dialogue," he summed up.

On April 7, 2018, a number of NGOs, including the White Helmets, alleged that chemical weapons were used in Douma, Eastern Ghouta. On April 9, Russian military chemists visited the site of the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, but found neither cases of exposure to chemical weapons nor traces of toxic agents.