WASHINGTON, December 2. /TASS/. Moscow is urging Washington to abandon the practice of "pushing through" non-obvious approaches at multilateral venues, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday. The Russian Embassy in the US posted on Facebook his response to a media request to comment on the Department of State’s statement on banning the aerosolized use of central nervous system-acting chemicals (CNS chemicals) for law enforcement purposes.
"The initiative to ban the use of CNS chemicals for the above mentioned purposes has been promoted by the US and its allies in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for several years. We, in turn, categorically oppose such a step that does not meet the subject and purpose of the CWC. We have repeatedly explained our position on such counterproductive measures, including to our US colleagues," the diplomat noted.
He emphasized that the Russian Federation is a responsible participant of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and attaches the utmost importance to preserving the credibility of the OPCW. "We call on Washington to abandon the practice of ‘pushing through’ non-obvious approaches on multilateral platforms and act together in the name of maintaining international security, taking into account the interests of all countries without exception," the ambassador added.
He reiterated that "the decisions of the OPCW governing bodies can be taken solely on a consensus basis." "In this case, this did not happen. A group of countries, including Russia, voted ‘against.’ This ‘decision,’ shared only by a part of the States Parties, will not have any legal or practical meaning. Obviously, it is aimed at creating the ground for arbitrary interpretations and readings of the provisions under the Convention," the diplomat noted.
As the US Department of State asserted on Wednesday, the OPCW "overwhelmingly adopted a decision affirming States Parties’ understanding that under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) the aerosolized use of central nervous system-acting chemicals is inconsistent with the law enforcement purposes."
OPCW voting
Earlier, the OPCW member states approved an "understanding" on banning the aerosolized use of central nervous system-acting chemicals for law enforcement purposes. The decision was supported by 85 countries, while 10 countries, including Russia, voted against it. Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Oleg Ryazantsev, who leads the Russian delegation at the 26th OPCW Conference session stated that the US and its allies were going to push through another illegitimate decision at the OPCW circumventing the CWC with regards to the use of aerosol chemicals for law enforcement purposes.
In 2018, the US and its allies pushed a decision to bestow the OPCW Technical Secretariat with the authority to determine those guilty of using chemical weapons. Russia categorically opposed this decision, noting that it goes beyond the framework of the Chemical Weapons Convention and infringes upon the exclusive prerogatives of the UN Security Council.