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US stalling on chemical weapons elimination, says Russian envoy to OPCW

In May, the Russian Embassy in the US, when responding to claims by American officials of Russia’s alleged violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention, noted that they were groundless while Washington was drawing out the elimination of its stockpile of chemical warfare agents

MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/. The United States is dragging on the process of eliminating its chemical weapons arsenal, Russia's Permanent Representative to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Friday.

"The Americans are cheerfully reporting that allegedly they are completing the elimination of chemical weapons but in fact they are delaying this process even though they have everything necessary, namely, technologies, equipment and financial means, but for some reason they’ve been holding on to these chemical weapons till today and don’t want to part with them," he specified.

The diplomat emphasized that Russia has been regularly pointing to this fact, indicating that the US is the only country with chemical weapons worldwide. "And we are urging them to follow our example, to get rid of this deadly arsenal the same way we did it, ahead of schedule and as soon as possible," he stressed.

In May, the Russian Embassy in the US, when responding to claims by American officials of Russia’s alleged violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention, noted that they were groundless while Washington was drawing out the elimination of its stockpile of chemical warfare agents.

The embassy reiterated that the Russian side had completely destroyed its chemical weapons back in 2017 which had been confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). That said, the diplomatic mission stressed that the US is the only convention’s member state which has not yet disposed of its stockpile of chemical warfare agents.

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