Russian embassy in Washington urges US destroy chemical weapons

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The Russian embassy in Washington denied on Friday accusations about Moscow's alleged plans to use chemical weapons in Ukraine and urged the United States to destroy its stockpiles of chemical weapons as it was enshrined in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

On its Telegram channel, the Russian embassy said that "Local media continue repeating the [American] administration's odious accusations that our country is allegedly violating the Chemical Weapons Convention."

It indicated that "Journalists, following the officials, also keep asserting without evidence about our remaining arsenals of chemical weapons and plans to use them in Ukraine."

The mission underscored that Russia has completely destroyed its stockpiles of chemical weapons in 2017, and recalled that this fact was confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

US has yet to get rid of chemical warfare agents

"The US, not Russia, is the only member country to the Chemical Weapons Convention that has yet to get rid of its stockpiles of chemical warfare agents." the embassy highlighted.

"It is known for a fact that Washington has the technical capacity and financial resources to accelerate chemical demilitarization," it added.

The mission called on the American society to wonder why Washington is delaying the elimination of its stockpiles of chemical weapons, unlike other countries.

US cannot confirm use of chemical agents in Mariupol

On April 12, a senior defense official said that the US cannot confirm the use of chemical agents in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

"We cannot confirm the reports that were out on social media yesterday that chemical agents were used in Mariupol ... We cannot confirm the use of chemical agents at this time. We're still evaluating," the official told reporters.

Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov battalion claimed that chemical weapons have been used by Russian forces attacking the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

However, no evidence of the use of chemical weapons has been presented.

On its part, Russia has constantly warned against the use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov battalion.

It is noteworthy that the CWC went into effect in 1997. As of 2021, 193 countries have become members of the convention. The CWC prohibited the use, development, production, stockpiling, and transfer of chemical weapons and agents to other countries. The OPCW was established along with the CWC to implement and oversee the convention.