Russia, West in war of words over Douma inspection

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Russia has said it expects investigators with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to reach the site of a suspected chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus on Wednesday, amid accusations from Western diplomats that Moscow has been blocking inspectors' access to Douma.

"Tomorrow [Tuesday] the security services of the United Nations… will test the routes. And on Wednesday is when we plan the arrival of the OPCW experts," a senior Russian official said at a press conference in the Russian embassy in The Hague, where a special meeting of OPCW's Executive Council was held on Monday.

Moscow had come under fire for allegedly holding the fact-finding mission back.

US calls on Russia for 'unfettered access'

On Monday, the spokesperson for the US State Department Heather Nauert urged Moscow in a tweet to "allow unfettered access to the attack sites."

A day earlier, the UK's OPCW delegation tweeted: "Russia & Syria have not yet allowed access to Douma," adding that "unfettered access essential. Russia & Syria must cooperate."

Moscow however dismissed the allegations, arguing the situation on the ground was complicated by the Western missile strike on military targets in Syria.

CGTN Screenshot of the UK's OPCW delegation's tweet

Security and logistics issues

Moscow has said the delay is related to "logistic problems" following the US-led strikes over the weekend, and argued it is clearing the roads of mines.

"If you go to a site which was just bombed I imagine you might have certain logistic problems," Russia's deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said.

OPCW's Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu admitted that "there were still pending security issues to be worked out before any deployment could take place."

Russia has offered every support, the country's permanent representative of OPCW Alexander Shulgin said, emphasizing the cooperation of the Syrian government as well.

With forces deployed in Douma, Russia has an opportunity to ensure security in those areas where the OPCW inspectors will work but Russia will not impose this aid, he added.

"The mission should do its work impartially. This assistance relates to the security, since the area has been for a long time under control of terrorist groups. This should be borne in mind and every effort should be made to ensure that the FFM carries out its work without any obstacles," said Shulgin.

Russia maintained that the suspected use of chemical weapons was staged by pseudo-humanitarian NGOs backed by opponents of the Syrian government in order to deceive the international community.

The attack against Syria "by the so-called Western coalition" is a gross violation of the UN Charter and of the fundamental norms of international law, said Shulgin.

Meanwhile, the British Ambassador to the Netherlands, Peter Wilson, called during Monday's meeting for perpetrators to be held to account, saying failure to do so "will only risk further barbaric use of chemical weapons in Syria and beyond."

He repeated that the military attack by the United States, France and Britain on Saturday had struck a "limited set of targets", noting that "hitting these targets will significantly degrade the Syrian regime's ability to research, develop and deploy chemical weapons."

Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency