Russia questions report blaming Syria regime for gas attacks

AFP, UNITED NATIONS: Russia on Tuesday questioned the findings of a UN-led investigation that blamed the Syrian regime for chemical attacks, saying they were not conclusive enough to trigger sanctions.
Britain and France called for UN sanctions after the investigative panel found that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces had carried out at least two chemical attacks, one in 2014 and one in 2015.
Following a closed-door Security Council meeting to discuss the report, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he had “very serious questions” about the findings and suggested the panel should continue its work.
“There are a number of questions which have to be clarified before we accept all the findings of the report,” Churkin said.
Previous reports from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had concluded that toxic gases have been used as weapons in Syria’s five-year war, but stopped short of identifying the perpetrators.

Russia questions report blaming Syria regime for gas attacks

AFP, UNITED NATIONS: Russia on Tuesday questioned the findings of a UN-led investigation that blamed the Syrian regime for chemical attacks, saying they were not conclusive enough to trigger sanctions. Britain and France called for UN sanctions after the investigative panel found that President Bashar al-Assads forces had carried out at least two chemical attacks, one in 2014 and one in 2015. Following a closed-door Security Council meeting to discuss the report, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he had very serious questions about the findings and suggested the panel should continue its work. There are a number of questions which have to be clarified before we accept all the findings of the report, Churkin said. Previous reports from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had concluded that toxic gases have been used as weapons in Syrias five-year war, but stopped short of identifying the perpetrators.