MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/. Moscow is urging Western politicians to stop scaring their public with a nonexistent Russian "chemical threat," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Wednesday.
The diplomat said that the Russian Foreign Ministry took note of speculation by some Western politicians, primarily the United States, and by "analytical" centers serving their interests, that Russia was using or is preparing to use some previously concealed inventories of chemical warfare agents.
"We call on the political circles of Western countries to stop intimidating their public with a nonexistent Russian ‘chemical threat,’" Zakharova said. "The Russian Federation will continue to unwaveringly uphold the principles and norms of international law, will ensure the integrity of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CPCW), including by promptly bringing to the attention of the UN member states and the OPCW information from the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation on real cases of preparation and perpetration of chemical provocations carried out by Ukrainian armed units and their handlers from NATO countries on the territory of Ukraine."
The diplomat again said that Russia, back in September 2017, ahead of schedule and under strict international control, fully fulfilled its obligations to destroy chemical weapons. "This was officially confirmed by the director general of the technical secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons," the ministry’s spokeswoman said. "The commitment of the Russian Federation to the goals and principles of the CWC has remained unchanged for 25 years of the existence of this most important international treaty".