Syria also topped the discussion during a conference on disarmament held by the United Nations in Geneva. The US accused Russia of failing to prevent the Syrian government from using chemical weapons. Russia and Syria denied the charges, saying all the chemical weapons owned by the Syrian government have been demolished.

The United Nations held another conference on disarmament on Wednesday. Prior to the conference, US Permanent Representative Robert Wood, held a news conference, accusing Russia of allowing the Syrian government to continue to use chemical weapons. He said Russia violated its duty as a guarantor to ensure the destruction of all chemical weapons owned by the Syrian government.

ROBERT WOOD US PERMANENT REP. TO THE CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT "However, a state that does, that has used chemical weapons in Syria, against its own people I might add, Russia does give support to that regime, and so that is of great concern to us. And we continue to point out to our Russian friends that, you need to get on the right side of history on this, you are currently on the wrong side of history, with regard to chemical weapons use in Syria."

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later said during the conference that the Syrian government's chemical weapon stockpile had been transported outside the country and eliminated.

SERGEY LAVROV RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER "Sadly, the US and its allies are exploiting unfounded allegations of poisonous substance use by Damascus as a tool of anti-Syrian geopolitical engineering."

The Syrian representative also said it was the terrorist groups in Syria who were using chemical weapons. He urged different parties to work together to set up an investigation mechanism.

ADIB AL-ASHKAR, SECOND SECRETARY SYRIA PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UN "I would like just to call on stop manipulating the UN mechanism by some western states to fulfil a very narrow political objective. I would like to reiterate that our government, the Syrian government has eliminated all the chemical weapons in its possession."

There have been allegations that forces loyal to the Syrian government were to blame for a chlorine attack in rebel-held eastern Ghouta. Russia said such allegations are a provocation aimed at sabotaging a ceasefire in the enclave. The world's chemical weapons watchdog in Hague opened an investigation on Sunday to determine whether banned munitions were used.