The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) can and should play an important role to prevent a provocation with the use of chemical weapons in Syria’s Idlib, Russian Permanent Representative to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin told reporters on Wednesday, TASS reports.
He noted that during the OPCW briefing on the Salisbury and Amesbury incidents Russia also drew attention to "a very dangerous situation in Idlib." "Reports received yesterday said a video featuring a fake chemical attack to be blamed on the Syrian authorities was being shot," the diplomat said.
"We called on the delegations to be vigilant," Shulgin stressed. "We urged them to demand more actively that the OPCW Technical Secretariat adhere to a certain stance. After all, this is a specialized agency, and it must have its say to prevent that provocation. Some delegations agreed with that point of view. We stressed that it is necessary to do the best we can to prevent another provocation."
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on August 25 that militants in Idlib enjoying active assistance from British secret services were making preparations for what would become a fake chemical attack against civilians to be blamed on government forces. The provocation is to serve as a pretext for a missile strike by the United States, Britain and France against Syrian government and economic facilities.