Statement of permanent representative
of the Russian Federation to the OPCW, Alexander Shulgin, at the fourth review
conference in response to the USA,
United Kingdom and Canada accusing Russia of not observing its obligations
under Chemical Weapons Convention
2252-24-11-2018
Unofficial
translation from Russian
Distinguished
Mr. Chair,
We consider absolutely unacceptable
the groundless accusations voiced in the statement of the United States that
Russia is in violation of its obligations under Article I of the CWC pertaining
to alleged involvement of Russian nationals in use of a nerve agent in
Salisbury. Such statements have absolutely no bearing on the facts and are
effectively aired to influence the international community. The refusal of the
United Kingdom to cooperate in any form with Russia on the “Skripal case”,
which would be in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article IX of the CWC only
underlines the emptiness of the accusations. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom
has addressed the Technical Secretariat with a request to confirm the outcomes
of its own national investigation, which contradicts the goals and objectives
of technical assistance provided to a State Party under subparagraph e) of
paragraph 38 of Article VIII of the CWC. As follows from the presented
materials on the assistance provided in connection to Salisbury and Amesbury
cases, we have to state the politically motivated nature of the undertaken
measures.
On April 18, 2018 at the meeting of
the Special Session of the Executive Council Russia announced that the problem
of the “Novichok” family is the problem of the Western states. It was in
violation of Article I of the CWC that the chemical laboratories of the Western
countries researched the structures of over a hundred chemical compounds. Such
activities were carried out in the United States, as well as at the Center of
Excellence created under the auspices of NATO in Czech Republic. At this center
all leading Western countries conducted their research.
The Russian Federation has officially
submitted to the OPCW Technical Secretariat a document including about a
thousand of new chemical compounds that were proposed to be introduced in the CWC
Control Schedules. These proposals include, inter alia, 400
chemical compounds that were developed in the United States, patented as
chemical weapons before the signing of the Convention yet not present in the
Schedule at the final stage of work on the Convention. That is what constitutes
a grave violation of international obligations under the Convention! In light
of this, the proposal of the United States, Canada and the Netherlands to
include only two compounds in the Schedules of the Convention looks absolutely
insufficient as far as undertaking measures for strengthening the Convention
goes.
Mr. Chair,
Recently for some reason the United
States has been taking on the role of solemn custodians of the Convention.
Pointing out to other States Parties at their alleged transgressions against
the Convention. But what of the United States itself? We would like to
specifically point out that the observation of its obligations under the
Convention by the USA is fraught with cherry-picking. Any provisions of the
Conventions that do not coincide with the US interests are effectively ignored
by Washington.
As an example, the US Congress has
made 28 reservations in the process of ratification of the Convention, that
allow to circumvent its provisions.
Specifically: prohibit on export of
any chemical samples taken in the United States; limit the inspections in the
USA carried out by the OPCW experts pertaining to identifying activities
prohibited under the Convention at the request of another State Party; keep in
force the Executive Decree no.11850 of April 8, 1975 allowing the use of riot
control agents in war, which is also prohibited under Article I of the CWC. The
United States is practically the only state keeping a reservation on the Geneva
Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or
other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare of 1925, that provides
for a possibility to use chemical weapons in retaliation.
It is also worth mentioning that in
2003-2011 the US and British specialists found in Iraq over 4.5 thousand of
chemical artillery shells, rockets and air bombs and covertly destroyed them
without verification by the OPCW Technical Secretariat. The main reason for
covering up the situation was the apparent unwillingness to expose the
involvement of the United States in the past chemical warfare program of Iraq.
Notably after the journalist investigation carried out by the New York Times it
was revealed that the CIA had implemented a whole program of buying from the
population and individual militants undetected, abandoned and stolen chemical
items form the stockpiles of Saddam Hussein
A report on such unusual method of
destruction of stockpiles was submitted by the United States to the OPCW only
in 2009 to convince the Executive Council of the Organization that the
undertaken measures “fully complied with the spirit of the Convention. In turn,
the Technical Secretariat then refused to investigate due to alleged “emergency
in the situation” and the fact that the CWC lacked the provision on destruction
of chemical weapons in combat environment.
Thus the United States and the United
Kingdom committed a major violation of the CWC requirements and avoided any
assessment of their actions by the international community. The overall volume
of detected, destroyed in the field and exported to the USA chemical weapons
cannot be properly assessed.
We also question a large number of
munitions with allegedly unknown chemicals being destroyed in the United
States. We are asked to show trust: apparently those are very old munitions.
But we all know that old adage: trust, but verify! It may turn out that under
the label of unknown equipment one could hide the traces of undeclared
activities in military chemistry.
The United States has likewise not
presented all available information on the locations, types, quantities, as
well as data on abandonment and state of abandoned chemical weapons.
The United States has not recognized
the origin of seven air bombs and one air spray tank with phosgene and cyanogen
chloride abandoned by Pentagon in Panama, even though the experts of the OPCW
Technical Secretariat as early as 2002 confirmed that they originate from the
USA.
A substantial amount of abandoned
chemical weapons with CA and CS left by the United States dating back to the
Vietnam was found in Cambodia. The OPCW special mission identified that it came
from the USA. Yet Washington is silent on that one.
Under the pretext of fighting
terrorism in Syria the United States illegally deployed its military
contingent. The true reason for American military presence in the region,
however, is abetting extremist groups active in Syria to prop up the US
political interests. It is those groups that are behind provocations with the
use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun and other numerous chemical-related
incidents. To create beneficial informational background we see active use of
terrorist-affiliated NGOs such as “White Helmets” that have been repeatedly
exposed for preparing staged incidents with the use of chemical weapons, for
example, in Duma. Time and time again we have informed both the OPCW Executive
Council and the UN Security Council on the invalid nature of these allegations.
Thus the United States essentially condone chemical terrorism.
It is therefore explicitly evident
that the United States accuses Russia and other countries to shift the focus of
attention from its own sordid affairs. We call upon the United States to cease
and desist from deceiving the international community. Instead the USA should
better recognize that it has to take steps to render its activities in
conformity with the CWC requirements.
Thank you, Mr. Chair,
We would ask to circulate this
statement as an official document and publish it on the OPCW website.
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