Russia vetoes extension of Syria gas attacks probe

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Russia cast its 10th veto on Thursday of United Nations Security Council action on Syria since the war began in 2011, blocking a US-drafted resolution to renew an international inquiry into who is to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The mandate for the joint inquiry by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which found the Syrian government used the banned nerve agent sarin in an April 4 attack, expires at midnight Thursday. The Syrian government had rejected the blame.

A civil defense member breathes through an oxygen mask, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria, April 4, 2017. /Reuters Photo

A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted.

The US draft text received 11 votes in favor, while Russia and Bolivia voted against it and China and Egypt abstained.

The vote sparked a war of words between Russia and the United States in the council, just hours after White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump believed he could work with Russian President Vladimir Putin on issues like Syria.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya (L) and US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley speak before a meeting of the UN Security Council at UN headquarters in New York, US, November 16, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The April 4 attack on Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people prompted the US to launch missiles on a Syrian air base. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned after the council vote on Thursday: "We will do it again if we must."

"The Assad regime should be on clear notice – the United States does not accept Syria's use of chemical weapons," she told the council, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the US draft resolution was not balanced.

"We would like to remind our US colleagues and those who ... supported their unrealistic draft, we would like to remind you that you bear the burden of responsibility if the mechanism cannot be salvaged," Nebenzia told the council.

"Russia is doing everything possible to prevent that from happening," he said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, November 14, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Russia withdrew its own rival draft resolution to renew the inquiry, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), after unsuccessfully pushing for its proposal to be considered.

However, following the vote on the US draft, Bolivia then requested a vote on the Russian text. It failed, receiving only four votes in favor, seven against and four abstentions.

While Russia agreed to the 2015 creation of the JIM, it has consistently questioned its findings, which also concluded that the Syrian government used chlorine as a weapon several times.

Russia has now vetoed 10 resolutions on Syria, including blocking an initial US bid on October 24 to renew the JIM, saying it wanted to wait for the release two days later of the inquiry's report that said the Syrian government used sarin.

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the US.

"We condemn chemical weapons use," Nebenzia said.

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Source(s): Reuters