MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. Russia can’t understand why the United States is artificially dragging out the process of eliminating its chemical weapons stockpiles and still hasn’t gotten rid of them, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday.

"Unlike Russia, the United States still has not destroyed its chemical weapons stockpiles," Ryabkov told journalists. "It has been said that there are no such weapons in Europe, but they remain in the United States and the pace of their elimination is extremely slow."

"We have repeatedly stressed that the reason behind the United States’ slow pace regarding the disposal of its chemical weapons arsenal is unclear for us, and is being in artificial manner, despite [Washington] having every resource, including technological, financial and many others," the diplomat added.

Ryabkov stressed that Russia has completely destroyed its chemical weapons stockpiles "under rigorous international supervision back in 2017. This is an undeniable fact."