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OPCW may apply "Syrian scenario" to Russia to restrict its rights — Russian envoy

"They managed to strip Syria of its rights by pushing through a relevant decision in the highest body of the conference of OPCW member-countries," Alexander Shulgin recalled

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. The West in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons may try to use the "Syrian scenario" again, this time in relation to Russia to restrict its voting rights, Russia’s permanent representative to the OPCW, Alexander Shulgin, said on the YouTube channel Solovyov Live on Thursday.

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"Possibly, they may try to repeat the Syrian scenario in relation to Russia. They managed to strip Syria of its rights by pushing through a relevant decision in the highest body of the conference of OPCW member-countries. There is a possibility they may try to apply the same scheme to Russia," he said.

Shulgin believes that experts of the attributive mechanism may be retargeted from investigations in Syria to the case of Alexey Navalny, who was taken to hospital in Omsk on August 20, 2020, after collapsing on board a plane.

"Within the Technical Secretariate there operates an illegitimate team of attributors, who decide who is responsible for the use of chemical weapons. This team will now be retargeted from Syria to Russia. The attributors will be conducting their inquiries in a distance mode, the way they usually do, and ostensibly, in a very professional way. The result is predetermined in advance," Shulgin said.

The ultimate aim of these actions, he added, is to step up pressure on Russia.

"We have certain resources at our disposal, too," he said. We will look for an antidote."

Syria’s status in OPCW

In April 2021, OPCW members voted for a resolution to restrict Syria’s rights and privileges. Of the 136 countries that participated in the voting 87 supported the resolution. Russia and another 14 countries opposed the resolution, which stripped Syria of the right to participate in the voting at the Conference of States Parties and the Executive Council, be elected to it or host any events held by the conference, council or their support bodies.

The resolution was proposed for consideration by the OPCW at the initiative of France and supported by 46 countries. It emerged in the wake of a report by the Investigation and Verification Team, released on April 8, 2020. The report claimed that the Syrian authorities were responsible for three incidents involving poisonous substances in the town of Al Lataminah, Homs province, in March 2017.

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