THE HAGUE, April 23. /TASS/. Through the efforts of the Western community, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is turning into an instrument of political pressure on unwanted countries, Russia’s permanent representative to the organization, Alexander Shulgin told TASS.

He was commenting on a resolution limiting the rights and privileges of Syria that was adopted at the 25th Conference of the member-states of the organization.

"This is an absolutely disastrous decision, which makes the work of the organization even more politicized and unpredictable," he noted.

He recalled that OPCW was "originally technical in nature, designed to help destroy existing stocks of chemical weapons in the world and create the necessary conditions for the non-reproduction of this type of WMD in the future."

Currently, according to the diplomat, "the Western community, in which the United States, France, Great Britain and other countries play "the first fiddle," is turning the OPCW turning into an instrument of political pressure on unwanted countries in order to achieve its geopolitical interests."

"It is a very dangerous trend, fraught with unpredictable consequences," the diplomat stressed.

"In fact, the Westerners sent a clear signal: whoever is not with us, we will turn them into a criminal regime, an outcast," Shulgin said.

"Next time Syria may be replaced by any other country whose authorities, for some reason, will turn out to be objectionable to the watchmen of the world order, which is based not on the international law, but on their own rules," the diplomat said.

Earlier, OPCW member states adopted a resolution that limits Syria’s rights and privileges. Votes were cast by 136 states, 87 of them backed the resolution. Russia and 14 more countries opposed the document which strips Syria of its right to vote in the Conference of the States Parties and the Executive Council, get elected to it or conduct any events in the country via these agencies or linked institutions.

The resolution was submitted at France’s initiative and backed by 46 states. It was drafted based on a report of the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) published on April 8, 2020. The document claims that Syrian authorities are responsible for three incidents involving toxic agents in Ltamenah located in the Homs Province in March 2017.