Moscow, Russia – The United States, France and the United Kingdom have expressed no interest in an objective investigation in Syria’s Douma, Russia’s Ambassador to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Alexander Shulgin claimed on Monday, pointing to the missile attack on Syria “before the OPCW mission reached the site find out possible evidence.”
“The fact that this tripartite aggression announced as a response to the use of chemical weapons in Douma was committed right at the moment when OPCW inspectors were expected to go to Syria to carry out a probe into the Douma developments causes resentment and indignation,” the Russian diplomat said at a meeting of the OPCW Executive Council. “It means that the United States, France and the United Kingdom are not interested in any objective investigation. We see that they need no objective investigation. They put entire blame on the Syrian authorities beforehand, even before the OPCW mission reached the site to find out possible evidence to the use of chemical weapons in Syria.”
In addition, the Russian government claims to have “irrefutable proof” that the alleged chemical attack in Douma was operationalized by British security services with assistance from the United States, said Shulgin, echoing earlier statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“We have not just a ‘high level of confidence,’ as our Western partners uniformly put it; we have irrefutable proof that there was no chemical attack in Douma on April 7,” Shulgin said on Monday at a special meeting of the UN chemical watchdog’s executive council.
The Russian ambassador went on to say that the alleged chemical attack in Douma had actually been a “pre-planned false-flag attack by the British security services, which could have also been aided by their allies in Washington.”
[Read more: Russia Accuses UK of Masterminding Chemical Weapons Attack in Syria]
“Things unfolded according to the pre-written scenario prepared by Washington. There’s no doubt, the Americans play ‘first fiddle’ in all of this,” Shulgin said, while claiming that the “attack” was staged by “pseudo-humanitarian NGOs” in reference to the White Helmets, which have received millions in funding from the US and UK government.
Shulgin’s sentiments mirrored those of Lavrov, who during a news conference with Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok, said, “We have irrefutable evidence that it was another staging, and the special services of a state which is in the forefront of the Russophobic campaign had a hand in the staging.”
Lavrov went on to warn, “God forbid something adventurous will be undertaken in Syria similar to the Libyan or Iraqi experience… I hope nobody dares to.”
The US, UK and France “are playing the hypocrite as they pretend to be the defenders of the international law. In fact, however, no one except for their allies… has any doubts that the major threat to the world comes from these ‘leaders’ of the Western [political] camp,” Shulgin said during the special meeting of the OPWC executive council.
Shulgin claimed that chemical, biological and radiological experts inspected the scene of the alleged chemical attack blamed on the Syrian government, but that the team found “not a single piece of evidence” that could substantiate the recordings distributed broadly on social and mass media – but said they uncovered witnesses who said the video purported to show the aftermath of the attack was staged.
RT reported that OPCW investigators are expected to start their work in Douma on Monday, after meeting with Syrian officials on Sunday to discuss details of the mission. The OPCW team is expected to finish its investigation by Wednesday and is to present a preliminary report to the UN prior to leaving Syria, according to local media.
https://youtu.be/hcOxFAp-nx4